A tree. But which one? In the backyard I went to get a lemon, and in the process I heard the alarm call of a chickadee. But where? Do you have a nest close by? From the kitchen window I saw it fly back and forth from the lemon tree to the silver dollar gum eucalyptus, which has had many mangled haircuts over its nearly forty-year lifespan. A perfect hidey-hole at the top, hidden by a small cascade of thin branches.
This particular type of eucalyptus has round leaves as its new growth; older growth tends to feature more elongated leaves, and it grows five feet a year. In rain and wind storms the branches get heavy and peel off like string cheese, once smashing a fence. So we keep it cropped. It fit in the front seat of an old Plymouth when we bought it, and was only as tall as I was when we planted it.
I had been planning to make another tree quilt, so obviously it had to be this one. I had already begun by walnut-ink-dyeing handkerchief linen and free-motion quilting it over a previously abandoned quilt start, which also contained hand-dyed brown velvet, which I also wanted to use. Bark, yes.
But it needed a contrast, another color. I slept on it (the idea, not the quilt). The morning said, “stenciled leaves.”
It was only then that I saw the chickadees, and knew they had to be included. So they are. I drew them first, made a stencil outline, then painted the details.
Good luck little chickadees!
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