Monday, September 4, 2017

Fiery Tree


My friends Maria and Paul are expecting their first baby, hooray! A couple of months ago, they attended an art event with their mothers, and painted these seasonal trees for the nursery. I knew in an instant that I had the perfect fabric for their baby quilt.


This is Fiery Tree, made with a beautiful Timeless Treasures panel called "Paradise."  Maria said her nursery theme would be "nature," so I added fish, animals and birds beside the tree. 


The backing fabric is the same birds as the upper left block, an Anna Marie Horner piece called "Honor Roll." That amused me, since my last name is Hornor and is often misspelled either "Horner" or "honor." 


"Fiery Tree" is also the name of Maria's art blog. It didn't surprise me that her painting in the photo is the second from the left, with flame colored flowers. To emphasize the red, orange and yellow flowers in the panel, I left them unquilted. Most of the rest of the panel is densely quilted in a ruffly floral motif.


I just love the colors of this panel, especially the hot colors of the tree roots swirling against the rich, deep blues and purples of the earth.


The panel is surrounded with a watery blue blender that I quilted with a rippling back and forth pattern. 


Each animal panel has different quilting: echoed jungle beasts, outlined birds with swirls or stipple behind them, watery "waves" over the little fishes.


The binding is this cool blue fern fabric, helping to keep the whole piece more on the blue side to coordinate with the paintings.


This little piece is quilted more densely than I usually do for a baby quilt. I'd been worried that too much quilting would be stiff, but after a bit of experimentation on Bright Astrodelic was pleasantly surprised at the drape and feel. If it seems otherwise to Paul and Maria, they can use Fiery Tree as a play mat.


Fiery Tree arrived at its new home today. The thank you email contained a significant number of exclamation points. Paul and Maria say they are torn between using the quilt and displaying it on the wall. I'll take that as a sign of a successful gift!

14 comments:

  1. oh wow what a perfect panel to match the paintings and you have made it up so thoughtfully..... I think smaller quiltng gives lovely texture - only once I had a problem with stiffness and I think that was more the quality of the backing....
    Hugz

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  2. Oh my! What a perfect quilt to go with the nursery theme. I think the quilting is perfect. Great job!

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  3. It is an outstanding gift! You did a beautiful job!

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  4. How fun is that, to be able to make a quilt that helps complete the theme of the room! I'm sure they were absolutely delighted; it is a very pretty quilt. I love the thought you put into it, right down to the quilting. Nice work, Louise!

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  5. Yes, it sounds like it was a winner of a gift. It is perfect for that new little one.

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  6. That is a beautiful quilt. And I love your dense quilting.

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  7. Wow did you get lucky finding the perfect panel for their quilt! I am sure they will love it to bits.

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  8. Funny how sometimes things just fall into place, the art work and your fabric tucked away in your stash. Lots of baby quilts are very pastel, but I love this richness of colour in this one Louise.

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  9. That is one great quilt. I'm sure I've got a spare wall to display it, just sayin'. 😉

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  10. Beautiful, Louise! The tree panel is gorgeous, but I really like how you also grouped the animal panels beside it. And the dense quilting!! This is going to be one fabulous nursery with its timeless theme. I will need to set aside time today to find Maria's blog.

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  11. Great idea to use the panel along with squares but i really love the backing fabric

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  12. Hello Louise,

    This is a beautiful quilt, and wonderful that it follows the theme of Maria's painting for the nursery.

    Thank you for linking up with Free Motion Mavericks. Your quilt is this week's featured project!

    Love, Muv

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