My Tree Quilt

I posted a quick picture of this quilt in July before I rushed it to the fair but it is past time that it got it's own official post.  I think I have a thing with improvisationally pieced tree quilts.  This is #4. 

Here are three others that I have made.  The one on the top left and the one with the green border were made from bee blocks that I received in 2011.  Looking at all the quilts all together makes me realize that I really like the thin brown border - I think I should have added one to this quilt too - oh, well...

It wasn't all same-o-same-o though.  There were a few new things that I tried with this quilt.  First, the blocks aren't arranged in a grid like in the other quilts.  It made it a bit more of a challenging to piece, but I think I like the look.

maple

leila

I also quilted it with the names of trees.  I marked horizontal lines three inches apart on the quilt and then just started "writing."  It takes a lot of tree names to fill up a quilt!  My husband came up with trees that I didn't even know existed.

By the end I totally ran out of tree names and wrote the names of my children on one line.

I also used quilting to label my quilt.  On the very bottom, I quilted "made by leila gardunia july 2013 h____ iowa."  I think I may label all of my quilts this way from now on.  It's not super easy to read, but a quilt historian would be able to figure it out.  Plus I wouldn't have to worry about making a label.  :)

Poplars

Pine

Some of my favorite blocks.  Although I am rather fond of the cut down tree too.  :)

On our walk back from the photo shoot we saw plenty of other pretty trees.  I love fall.

I am linking up with the Blogger's Quilt Festival and entering My Tree Quilt in the throw quilt category.  Head on over to see lots of cool quilts!

PS. My next post is my 250th and I have been blogging for 3 years this month!  You may want to check in later this week.  ;)

My Tree Quilt

This week my kids watched a bunch of TV, ate picnics outside (because the table was covered in fabric!) and my house looks like a tornado hit it, but I made a quilt in one week!  I had planned to enter this quilt into the State Fair and realized Tuesday that the due date was this Saturday not next Saturday!  I didn't think it was possible, but I finished it and turned it in with 15 minutes to spare.  :)  

I am loving it.  I think tree quilts are my thing.  I think it is the only type of quilt I have made multiple times.  The original Tree Quilt, the Baby Tree Quilt, the Commissioned Tree Quilt and now My Tree Quilt. 

 I quilted it by writing the names of different trees across the quilt.  More closeups later.  The backing was some vintage cloth from my friend's grandmother's stash.  In fact, I didn't have to buy anything for this quilt, which was good because I didn't have time to run into town.  :)  The cut down tree was the idea of my friend Eva-Marie.  I love it!

I also turned in my circle of geese block for the Quilt Block competition.  I reduced the pattern by 75% so that it met the 9.5 inch size requirement.  I love this pattern!   Wanting to make a circle of geese block was what motivated me to learn how to paper piece last year.

Now I am going to take a deep breath, relax and clean the house.  ;)

Tree Quilt

 This quilt is finished and has been sent off to it's new owner.  She loves it and so do I.  I had such a fun time making this.  I loved piecing all the different types of trees.   To keep the record straight, I must admit that the tree in the top left corner and the pieced pines in the bottom left corner are from a bee I was in last year.  The blocks had gotten lost under some fabric for a year - oops! - and I am so glad I had a chance to use them in this quilt at last.

This central tree is the fanciest of the bunch.  I love the improv top and cool trunk.

 My husband said this tree looked like a mushroom.  What!?!?  It's totally suppose to be a willow.  It even has the leafy-going-towards-the-ground fabric!  But his comment turned out to be a good thing.  I quilted the word "willow" along the left edge of the tree so no one else could make the same mistake.  :)  Then I decided to add quilted labels to the other trees I thought looked like specific varieties.

 Poplar

Pines (beneath the small pines - it's hard to see)

Then I was on a writing roll.  In the border, I "wrote" the names of many different trees (oak, redwood, walnut, cherry, ginkgo, elm, maple...) separated by a bit of meandering quilting.  Love, Love, Love It!

 The back turned out well too.  I really like the poison green Civil War reproduction fabric paired with Kate Spain's green leaves from Central Park.  The Kona Espresso stripe on the back gave the backing the length and classiness it needed.   Is is just me or does quilting with white thread on a dark background give anyone else hives?  Thankfully, all went well.

Sometimes it is hard to tell from pictures what a quilt is really like.  Sometimes quilts can look good in the pictures (like the purple Amish Braid) and be horrid in real life.  I just want to let you know:

This. Quilt. Is. AMAZING!  

It is seriously the best work I have ever done.  It feels so good to make something I can really be proud of.  I hope I can keep it up!

Quilt Stats:

Finished Size:  approx. 40 x 52 inches

Fabric:  Kona Unbleached and Espresso and a variety of green and brown scraps

Commissioned Tree Quilt

Eeek!  I am making my first commissioned quilt.  My sister in law's manager loved the Big Tree Quilt I made for them and asked if I could make a baby sized one for her good friend who loves trees.

The Big Tree Quilt

I am so glad I said yes to the commission.  I have had a blast making these blocks and am sad that I only have 4 more to make.

The blocks in the Big Tree Quilt were 12 inches square and these will be 10 inches.  I find that I am making the trees slightly larger than last time so there isn't quite as much white space.  I'm not sure how I feel about that right now.  I might add some white sashing to spread them out a little bit more, we'll see.  The last four blocks will definitely have single smaller trees in them so there is more white space in the finished quilt.

I went to the local quilt store today to buy the backing and binding.  She wanted a pieced backing with light and dark green fabrics - no problem.  I picked up some Central Park and a coordinating Civil War reproduction fabric manufactured by Andover Fabrics.  I love how the traditional and modern fabric compliment each other.

It was only when I got it back home and put them next to the tree blocks that I realized how much yellow was in the backing fabrics.  Most of the trees have more blue undertones.   I think it will be ok since it is on the back - it would never do for a border fabric, but I am not in love with it.  I am going to make some of the last trees with some with yellow undertoned fabric and hopefully that will help it blend more.  What do you think?

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Tree Quilt

 

I finished this quilt just in time for the BQF.  Yeah!  I got the idea for this quilt after seeing all of the quilts with little houses in the center of large white spaces like this one.  I thought, "Trees would be nice," and when I sent out fabric for my month in the online bee Bee Improvisational, I asked the other members to make me "tree blocks."  I used some of them in this baby quilt.  I made a few more and used the rest in this quilt.  So, more than a year after I got my blocks back, I completed the Tree Quilt.

I sashed out the odd sized blocks to twelve and a half inches.  I did the narrow flange border and binding in Kona Espresso and stipple quilted the whole thing.  I like how you can see the quilting in this picture.  Can you see those feet peeking out?  That is my neighbor.  He was a good sport and held up my quilt - they have better light in their yard.  :)  I thought I would hand sew the binding but ended up using my No Fail Machine Binding.  I love it.

Have you ever tried improvisational piecing?  It is really quite fun.  If you want to learn how or learn any other quilting skills check out the We Can Do It! Skill Builder Sampler.  Each month we will focus on learning a different quilting skill.

Thanks for hosting the Blogger's Quilt Festival again Amy.  It takes some of the sting out of not being in Salt Lake this week.   :)  Check out all of the other great quilts here.