I had a basic idea of what I wanted in my head, but I just couldn't find a pattern that really satisfied that desire. I thought that since I was pretty creative with fabrics maybe I could just rough sketch out what I wanted and make it work. After all, pencil and freezer paper are not rocket science !! So I spread out the paper on a table and just started drawing (and I am anything but the world's best drawer). At some point a friend came over and suggested a couple things she thought would work based on the fabric I had out (and she even braved the fabric shelves to find a few other pieces that worked better - like the silk and satin for the knot hole). Anyway, within a couple hours I had a rough pattern for the tree and leaves on the freezer paper and a rough diagram of where I wanted the various parts of the top onto scrap paper.
The applique really went quickly as the pieces are large and there are no real sharp corners or points. The leaves were pretty easy and didn't have to be exactly the same size. The leaves that are "blowing" around were made with various cotton and silk scraps. The tree trunk is a silk and the knot hole is satin.
I was reminded how easy silk is to applique and how easy it is to do points (like on the blowing leaves) with silk instead of cotton. Has to be something to do with the density of the fabric. Anyway, the center tree piece went smoothly.
Piecing the Flying Geese borders was simple to do with what started as 6" squares sewn into half square triangles. I chose the blue "sky" fabric because I love the blue sky during the fall before it gets gray and gloomy looking.
The top took from Sept - Nov. 1999 to complete.
The blocks at the top and bottom (representing leaves already on the ground) and flying geese are all cotton fabrics. The 3" squares at the bottom are more of those fabric blocks I traded for the millennium quilt (see https://indianaquilter40.blogspot.com/2011/08/2000-millennium-charm-quilt.html ).
The hand quilting is simply what I felt made each piece and part stand out. The quilting took place in March to October of 2000.
The backing is certainly nothing related to northern Maine, but is more southern Maine with the lobsters and sea life. They were just two fun fabrics I had on hand and decided to utilize for the backing.
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| Backing |
Finished size is 77" x 88"
In my scrapbook, this is #281.
Update 10/3/2022: For more thoughts on autumn quilting, visit this post on my newer quilt blog.
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