What better way is there to spend a late winter day than immersed in a vintage quilt collection? Back in March I had the opportunity to explore part of Heritage Park’s collection of donated and gathered quilts. It was all in anticipation of the Festival of Quilts, taking place in August. Delayed twice because of Covid it was a special experience. My goal was to identify a quilt to inspire a modern interpretation for a special class at the Festival of Quilts. Let me tell you, it was hard to narrow it down!
In the end I chose this pastel version of the Tree of Life pattern. I took a million pictures then came home to sketch. My goal to was make a straightforward version of the block, one easily made with a rotary cutter and one that lent itself to play. I wanted students to be able to play with colour, fabric, and scale, creating their own modern version of the block.
The first version I made tested the pattern. It was also an opportunity to play with fabric and scale. This particular block finishes at 36” square! I dug into the stash of both purples and the low volume black and whites. I love the combination of warm purples and cool purples. Together they make the block very dynamic.
This size proved popular in the class itself. It’s a great way to get far with a project.
The block itself can be set with a straight set like this or on point. It’s hard to decide what you want until you make the block. For example, I debated making 3 more blocks this size to make a four patch in this straight set, maybe all pointing to the four corners. However, I think I will add another round of black and white patchwork squares to make it a bit bigger and turn it into a baby quilt.
Here’s what it looks like on point, like in the original.
You can see I am having fun playing with fabric. Exploring variations in the colour green and playing with value placement keeps this from being boring. The entire block is made from half square triangles and squares. Super easy to make! But also a bit tedious. So having some excitment with the fabric sure helps. So does a good show in the background (I am currently watching Sex Education on Netflix.)
In the class itself students worked in all sizes and with a wide range of colours. It is always so exciting to see people play!
A huge thank you to Heritage Park, curators and staff there, as well as the Festival of Quilts volunteers for making this happen.
PS Don’t follow those pattern instructions, it contains errors that I fixed later.