A Bigger Promise Than I Thought

When I promised my daughter a quilt with trees, I really didn't know what I was saying. After a few days of pondering and browsing through a book on art quilts, I started by taping together the backside of some wrapping paper to a piece of packing paper to make my actual size template. I spent the 2 evenings drawing out a grid of 6 inch blocks then redrawing my pattern onto the template to make a final 5x6 foot piece.

I put that piece on the design wall,

Then cut out 1/2 of a  trunk at a time to piece. First I numbered the pieces to help keep track.

After piecing the light gray, I added dark grey wedges with raw stitch applique. I used a moderately tight satin stitch, then a triple stitch on the inside to add some texture to the bark. I chose dark grey and medium dark grey threads with a low sheen. 

 

Once I finish with a tree trunk, I put it back in its place on the template. This process doesn't go quickly at all. The extra steps needed to make the bark look realistic are time consuming, but in the end I think they will really add dimension and keep the quilt from being too abstract.

The original plan was to finish my daughter's quilt top before I hand over to her the sewing room for the summer. But it took all weekend just to make 1 1/2 trunks, and I haven't even begun the background blocks. I may have to negotiate with her some studio hours on the weekends.