Aleister’s Quilt
My second baby quilt belongs to Aleister. I was looking through my books at a tree of life qiults. I have never appliquéd anything before. The quilts looked so intimidating.
We have a painting in our kitchen of two birds sitting on two branches. It’s a simple image. My husband found it in an old barn. The artist is unknown.
I put the idea of the tree of life, and the bird painting together for my appliqué. I knew I had to simplify things or it would turn into a disaster. I started researching online how to appliqué. I went with the turned edge method. It was the only method that made sense to me, or maybe I should say, felt right to me.
I had the background fabric and the fabric for the birds. My sister-in-law gave me the fabric for the branches. The branch fabric made it. It was perfect. After I finished the centerpiece, I took it to the Quilter’s Attic for border fabric. I didn’t want to show it to gals who were working there. The gals started to help me. They got a hold of work and spread it out on the counter. They were surprised it was my first appliqué. I had a thought it was pretty good, but they confirmed it for me. They also did a great job finding the fabric for the boarder.
My husband’s granny passed away, and I inherited several quilt tops. I used one of them for the back.
For the quilting, I used a swirling free motion pattern. I was thinking it would look like wind blowing around the tree branches.
Jennifer Haston Quilts 