Tree Quilt

Two close friends of ours got married this summer, but since the wedding was in New York Eddie & I weren’t able to go. I sent them a gift from their registry, but also wanted to make them something else. Before one of our long drives from College Station to northern New Mexico this summer, I also decided hand quilting would be a fun thing to try, and decided I wanted to do something similar to this quilt I saw a while back on pinterest:


From via

I love the look of wood and the sentiment of carving lovers’ inintials in trees, and here was a crafty (and eco-friendly) way to replicate them: a quilt! I posted an in-progress picture of the ‘carved’ heart earlier here, but here’s the whole quilt:

Its about 44″ x 55″. I thought creating the wood pattern would be really difficult – I tend to do much better with exact geometric designs than organic ones like this – but I just looked at a few faux bois patterns online and started sketching directly onto the fabric with a water-removable white pencil. The sketch itself came together reasonable quickly, and wasn’t nearly as hard as I expected.

The hand quilting ended up taking way longer than I thought (I certainly did not finish it that first drive out to New Mexico), but it was a surprisingly enjoyable, relaxing task – especially while riding in the car or watching TV. I used the same tan fabric from the heart on the front for the backing. I made binding out of a dark brown fabric with white swirly leaf patterns – which I was nervous about using as a 1/2″ binding, but ended up totally loving.

I’m pretty psyched about how it turned out, but its a pretty non-traditional quilt and I hope our friends like it too 🙂

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  8. Wow! This is really sweet…hope the newly weds enjoy it.

    Also, I would like to personally invite you to our new Rockin’ link party every Friday at RoCa and Company. Come and show off what you got this coming Friday. Hope to see you there…

    Remember…YOU ROCK!!

    Carmen @
    RoCa and Company
    http://www.rocaandcompany.blogspot.com

    Reply

  11. I love this! My husband proposed to me by carving “Marry me” into a tree. He would love this! Thank you so much for posting this! I will definitely be trying this out. :0)

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  15. I LOVE this!! I’m pinning it and want to try to make it for some friends who are getting married next summer! Thanks for sharing and wonderful job on the hand quilting!!

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  20. I have had the original pinned for a few weeks, even bought dark brown and cream flannel on sale at Joann’s last week to start a version of the quilt for my BFF for Christmas. I had not considered hand quilting, but, I love the look and since I have enough time, this may be the route I go! Thanks for the photos and inspiration!

    Reply

  23. What a great present. Better than anything that can be purchased from a store. And as there family grows they can add hearts with their childs name and birthdate. Thank you for posting.

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  24. Okay, this is amazing. Just moved to the top spot on my quilting list. I’m actually a grad student in College Station as well and am in the process of making my first quilt! Best of luck with your thesis and thanks for the excellent quilting ideas!

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  26. I saw this on Pinterest and what intrigued me was the last name. My stepfather’s last name is Coles & I wondered if it was a relation. He was raised in western PA. my email addy is

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  27. Pingback: Making Monday Marvelous #72

  29. Hi, My name is Freya. I am 100% interested in purchasing a quilt from you if you are selling them. Please email me as soon as possible for I LOVE your work. I look forward to hearing from you.

    Reply

  30. I am interested in one of these for a present for my wife. Could you send me a price quote and time frame if you are still making these quilts I would really appreciate it. It took me awhile to find your site. You can send it through my email if you like. Thank you so much.

    Reply

  31. I am interested in one of these for a present for my wife. Could you send me a price quote and time frame if you are still making these quilts I would really appreciate it. It took me awhile to find your site. You can send it through my email if you like. Thank you so much. My email is

    Reply

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  34. Love this quilt…would you be so kind as to tell me what faux bois pattern you used or where I may get it. I would like to try and make this for a special gift and need all the help I can get. Much appreciated.

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    • I google searched ‘faux bois’ to get some ideas, then just free handed it on with one of those white removable pencils made for marking fabric. If I messed up, I could just remove it with a damp cloth and start over. I’m totally not an artistic person drawing-wise, but it was a lot easier than it sounds!

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  38. Vertical blinds too, of-course yes! Easy to install and to use.
    They are made from fabric usually that is of a
    thicker weave than normal and often the fabric that
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  39. Made this yest, easy for a beginner, turned out really nice. Will def make more!

    Reply