Birch Trees in Winter

I saw a quilt called Birch Trees on a blog I follow occasionally. The quilter, Amanda Jean Nyberg, has wonderful ideas for using the smallest scraps. And since I am one of those that is reluctant to throw fabric into the waste basket, and since I loved the quilt she made from her tiny scraps, I decided to make my own version of “Birch Trees.” Here’s a link to hers: bright birch trees

I wanted to use various backgrounds that reminded me of a winter sky, so I chose different light batiks in blues and grays.  The trees were great fun to make and it was so satisfying to me to find a use for the tiniest pieces of bright scraps of prints and batiks in my stash.

For the fun of it, I made one block colorless: a black and white rendition.

For the back I used a dusty blue batik that looks not so much like “starry night”, but more like “starry day”.

I chose to quilt the blocks very minimally, in straight and narrow lines that imitate the trees as well as intersect them, as though each block includes a “ghost” or a mere “idea” of a tree populating the winter scene.

The method I used for construction was QAYG, (Quilt As You Go) — a method of quilt making that, theoretically, allows the quilt to be completed fairly quickly and with minimal stress.  Theoretically, being the operative word!

The quilt measures 52″ X 55″, a nice size for a modern minimalist baby quilt. But it looks good on a small table, too. Or hanging on a wall.

Price: $75 + S/H.

Sold.