Here I am explaining the Shade Tree comes from the green blocks, a batik with a curly leaf pattern on it. This fabric reminds me of the curly willow outside our living room windows that lends such nice cool shade in summer.
I had acquired the woolen batting for a mere $24 at a rummage sale at my local quilt guild several years ago. That's a pretty good deal for a wool batting, even 10 years ago. It was carded by The Courtney Woolen Mill in Appleton -- I think (hope?) they are still in business. It turned out to be the perfect fit for this particular quilt.
For info on how to envelope and tie a quilt, see my previous post on it. It was very helpful for me, too, as I used it as a reference when I needed to do this one.
After the first night of Quilt Camp, I had the edges sewn, and turned the inside out, re-pinned it for temporary basting, and brought it back to the cabin to keep me warm that night. I was grateful to have it as it was cold enough to snow that night. Chilly! It kept me toasty and war -- such a treat!
I've been going back and forth about whether to quilt it or tie it. In the end, I quilted the borders, but tied the middle part after I got home. Quilting something this thick just makes it stiff, so I opted to tie it. It was difficult to find a matching green yarn in wool. The green I wound up with is as close as I could get, and it's not wool. We'll see how it wears.
Lessons learned :
The wool batting seemed easier to work with than the poly batting I used last time, as it was easier to push the tying needle through -- or maybe it was the needle itself? This time, I purchased a long needle for making dolls--the packaging said it was great for tying quilts, so I took a chance. It does work well!
The ties are in the cream-colored crosses and where the little back squares meet. I used a matching wool yarn so as not to take away from the quilt blocks. I did also quilt the border and edge blocks to add some stability.
Tied quilting from the back. Nice puckers!
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