2021 // 92 x 84 inches

machine pieced, machine quilted // Kaffe Fassett shot cotton, quilting cotton

Artist Statement

For a few weeks every September, a flock of Vaux’s swifts come to Portland to roost in a decommissioned chimney at a local elementary school. The birds gather at sunset, swooping and swirling around the chimney entrance for about an hour before funneling down all at once in a dramatic black spiral. People gather on the school’s lawn, picnicking and cheering when they disappear down the chimney. It’s a sweet scene and the inspiration for this quilt.

This is the first quilt I designed myself, planning it out on the computer and building it square by square. I’ve since moved on to a more improv method but this was the quilt that freed me from needing someone else’s pattern.