Design Concept

For the whole story, click here.

In January of 2013, I married Dr. Ron Gentry in a private ceremony at The National Quilt Museum. Our ceremony was held in front of my 1995 AQS Best of Show quilt, Migration #2, which has 21 black birds flying from the bottom right corner to the top left corner. We chose this piece as a backdrop because we have become migratory humans, spending half of the year in Paducah KY, and half in Port Townsend, WA. This quilt, a miniature version of Migration #2, has only two black birds, and was made to hang at our April, 2013 reception to celebrate our marriage.

A hand painted fabric was used for the center of the quilt and the flying goose triangles in the long sweeping curved templates. A dark variegated fabric from my “Splash” collection was used in the outer border, and a fabric from my Gradations collection was used for the side triangles in the flying geese. This is the first quilt completed after our marriage, and the first to be signed Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry.

The quilting was done with many different colors of top stitching thread in colors that blend with the background fabrics. A “Caryl Flower”, one of my signature quilting patterns, was quilted into each goose triangle. The black birds, whose species is intentionally ambiguous, are quilted in charcoal grey.  They are also outlined in light blue thread to create contrast and make them stand out.