Here is my hand quilted William Morris Trees of Life quilt. Finally done!
This quilt is special for many reasons. Shall I tell you a few? Way back in 2012, I went to Paris with my husband and two oldest sons. It was an amazing, amazing trip.
Before we left, I, of course looked up whether there were any quilt shops in Paris I could get to. I was very excited to find one called Le Rouvray just a few blocks from our apartment (which was fabulously also a few blocks from Notre Dame Cathedral - oh my goodness, I loved it). THEN, on my birthday just a few weeks before we left, my sister in law gave me the book you can read a bit about on the Le Rouvray website (it is now out of print).
When I got to Paris, I saw the shop had this fabulous antique quilt hanging up made with Tree of Life blocks. There was a pattern for a similar quilt was included in my book and since I had several William Morris fat quarters (I was thinking about his Tree of Life tapestries...) It came together.
Then I decided to hand quilt it. Well, that took a long time, but I enjoyed every minute.
Sadly, Le Rouvray is now closed. But here is a picture I took of the outside of the shop. You can just see the Tree of Life quilt that inspired me through the window.
QUILT STATS:
Dimensions: 53" by 67"
Fabrics: Various fat quarters of William Morris reproductions by Fabric Freedom, blue Strawberry Thief print by Barbara Brackman from her line A Morris Tapestry. Bella Snow.
Batting: Warm & Natural
Thread: Aurifil 50 wt for piecing, Gutermann hand quilting thread for quilting in Ivory.
Binding: In the Beginning, by Jason Yenter
Backing: Eiffel Tower by Michael Miller (wide width, no seams!)
What a pretty quilt. I like your use of colors. Just lovely!
ReplyDeleteIt is beautiful! And all that handquilting! I love handquilting and handquilt most of my quilts, so I know how long it takes (that is why I do not have that many quilts finished.....) . Great story behind this quilt, but sad to read Le Rouvray is now closed. I did not know, it was on my list to visit one day..... I own that book, bought it during my 'first quilting period' (there is a period of about 12 years in my life that I did not quilt at all and all my quilting materials where boxed up, can you believe it??).... I will have a look through it today....Anyway, well done on the quilt!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to get inspiration. Yes, I noticed the Tour Eiffel print on the reverse. A beautiful classic, well made - impossible to beat.
ReplyDeleteI am currently making that quilt block. I was looking through images for inspiration on how to put it together. You did a great job on the quilting. Thankyou for posting it.
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