Mom, Dad - What are you doing in November?

 

Mom, Dad - What are you doing in November?

This was the question asked by our son back in June 2023.  As you can guess, we ended up going to New Zealand for November!  

Being a quilter, I wanted to make a quilt commemorating our trip.  I was able to get a bit of NZ themed fabric while there - two 10 minute jumps from the car into a shop while the boys waited ... not patiently I might add.

I did see some sidewalk pavers in Otorohanga in the shape of a Kiwi.  I even drafted a pattern the day after I got home.  The pavers were 9" x 7".  By reducing to a third, the pavers became 3" x 2.5" in size - a doable quilt pattern.

Otorohanga Street Pavers as a Patchwork Kiwi

I decided that the block size would be too big - but maybe I will revisit as a wall hanging at a later date.

I was still searching for a kiwi pattern and only came up with a very complicated paper piece design and an applique one.  That is until I saw a patchwork chick and somehow I saw kiwi!

I rotated it and made a long beak.  A quilter in New Zealand tried out the design.  http://stitchingfarmgirl.blogspot.com/  It was still not quite there, so I chopped off the 'squared off ' backside and made the beak longer and my New Zealand Kiwi Bird pattern was finally getting there and worked out a paper pieced pattern.

Working out the Kiwi Pattern

I shared the Paper Pieced New Zealand Kiwi Pattern with a group of quilt stitchers and bloggers - the Chookshed Stitchers hosted by ChookyBlue. https://chookyblue.blogspot.com/ 

My Flock of Kiwi ... so far...

Here is the paper pieced pattern - one for each direction - enjoy.  Cheers, Louise