Tree of Life Quilts 9 Timeless Projects Innovative
Techniques
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Publisher: AMY MARSON
Creative Director: GAILEN RUNGE
Editor: JENIFER DICK
Technical Editor: NAN POWELL
Cover/Book Designer: SARAH MEIERS
Illustrator: LOGAN WRIGHT
All photography by AARON T. LEIMKUEHLER
Published by Stash Books, an imprint of C&T Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 1456, Lafayette, CA
94549
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For my husband, Ray; and three children: Nick, Tyler and
Kiley; for putting up with the whole book writing and
quilt making process.
They are my tree of life.
TRADITIONAL INSPIRATION
I have always loved Tree of Life quilts and motifs in general. I have
had a design in my head for years that I have always imagined I
would make based on the more historical Tree of Life tapestries and
textiles that depict an elaborate tree filled with animals hidden in
every nook and cranny. I still think I might make that quilt someday
— probably on a smaller scale than I originally thought.
I love the diversity, breadth of design and longevity of Tree of Life
designs. To me, they are timeless. The concept dates back to
ancient cultures, including the Mayans and Babylonians. Tree of Life
tapestries also were popular in the 1600s. Chintz prints were used to
create Broderie Perse quilts in the 1800s. More modern designs
include those of Gustav Klimt and William Morris. In current-day
quilts, designs range from traditionally pieced tree designs to more
elaborate appliqué motifs to art quilts. There is no lack of inspiration
when it comes to this design.
Let’s start with traditional pieced designs. First is a beautiful example
of an immaculately pieced Tree of Life quilt named Pine Tree. It was
made around 1850 by Mary Johnson (1816–1878) of Parke County,
Indiana, and is owned by her great-great-granddaughter, Rosie
Grinstead. Most traditional Tree of Life quilts are based on the half-
square triangle. This particular quilt includes 806 of them, all hand
pieced.
Pine Tree, by Mary Johnson, 1850
This next quilt is a simpler version of a pieced Tree of Life called
Pine Trees. Again, the design is based on half-square triangles. This
quilt was designed and created by Rosie Grinstead and completed in
2002.
Pine Tree, by Rosie Grinstead, 2002
Tree of Life, detail, by Ida Houston, 2012
Ida Houston’s version of a tree of life quilt, aptly named Tree of Life,
was made using half-square triangles that she got through an
exchange done through the The Quilt Show’s on-line forum. After
watching Edyta Sitar on The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and
Ricky Tims, quilters from all over the world sent in half-square
triangles to exchange with each other. More than 600 people
participated in the exchange. Ida wanted to make a statement with
her quilt of triangles from many lands. Deciding the quilt grew from a
seed that had been planted with many hands of many friends, she
decided it had to be a Tree of Life. The triangles that did not fit onto
the front of the quilt went onto the back to cover the label. She didn’t
want to leave anyone out. For the tree, she took one of her old
dishes and traced the design. She had it enlarged to accommodate
the 36" center medallion. Overall, it’s about 75" square.
Tree of Life, by Ida Houston, 2012
The Times and Seasons quilt was designed for the 1993
Piecemakers Quilt Calendar. It is pieced and appliquéd, and it moves
away from the half-square triangle design. The blocks that make up
the treetop include animals, a girl and flowers — definitely
representative of life.
Times and Seasons, 1993, by Piecemakers, 1993
I love a quilt that draws the viewer in — a quilt where you don’t see
everything the first time that you look at it. This is one of those quilts.
His Majesty — The Tree, was designed for the 2002 Piecemakers
Times and Seasons Quilt Calendar. The center medallion depicts a
tree through the seasons surrounded by a variety of trees going
through the seasons. If you look carefully, you’ll see other signs of
life tucked in and around the trees. I find something new in this quilt
every time I look at it.
His Majesty - The Tree, by Piecemakers, 2002
Theresa DeFore’s Tree of Life quilt is all appliqué. She made it while
undergoing cancer treatment, and each leaf is signed by friends,
family and her medical staff. Some include small drawings or words
of encouragement. She came up with a beautiful way to surround
herself with those who loved her. This quilt inspired the quilt Life
Surrounds that you will see later in this book.
Tree of Life, by Theresa DeFore, 2011
My own small art quilt, Who Am I, was inspired by the Tree of Life
motif. At my core, I am defined by my family and that’s what I wanted
to depict in this art piece that was for the “Who Am I?” challenge
issued by the Mo-Kan Machine Quilters Guild in 2011. The quilt was
made primarily with inks and is an image of my hands supported by
my husband’s hands holding a seedling that represents my children.
Three leaves with their names quilted in each as the veins of the
leaf.
Who Am I?, by Trisch Price, 2011
Taking in all of these ideas, I began to work on my own series. I
started by asking myself questions and presenting design challenges
to myself. Some if these include:
• How do I work with a single shape? The answer appears in
Coral Reef, Circle of Life, One Tree and Web of Life.
• What would define a tree and life in different settings, such as a
city or a suburb? This inspired City Park and Street Trees.
• How does the concept of a tree apply to different environments?
This was the basis for Coral Reef and Web of Life.
• How do I bring the concept up to date to align with our high-tech
times? This brought about Binary Tree and Landscape
Architecture.
BASIC INSTRUCTIONS
All of the piecing in this book uses ¼" seam allowances, unless
otherwise stated. Yardage is based on 42"-wide fabric.
Fat quarters measure 18" × 20".
Fat eighths measure 9" × 20".
Unless otherwise noted, all measurements are width × height.
Some of the patterns use partial seaming. This may be intimidating
at first, but just dive in. It will be a habit in no time. It is a very useful
technique that will allow you to expand your design possibilities.
Partial seaming is most useful when you have multiple T-
intersections coming together in opposing directions. To complete
the seams, start with the end of one seam and stitch the last few
inches. Press just the stitched end of the seam. Continue adding the
remaining pieces in a traditional manner. Go back to the start, and
complete the seam.
CONNECTING STRIPS
To connect strips to make a long strip, sew them together at a 45°
angle. Press the seams open, then trim the excess fabric. This is
used to make binding in general, to attach the ends of the bias strips
for the largest circle in the Circle of Life quilt and to finish the quilt in
Landscape Architect.
ORGANIZING
Several quilts in this book require you to cut many pieces of fabric in
varying sizes. The trick is to keep it all organized. Here are three
methods that I use.
1. Mark each piece as I go. I do this in one of two ways. Sometimes,
I use a chalk pencil and write the length on the back. Other times, I
use dot stickers. If using a sticker, I first write each size I need on a
sticker. Then I just take the stickers to my cutting table and follow
those sizes (rather than referring to the pattern) to complete the
cutting, applying the stickers as I cut.
2. Cut everything and stack it according to size. Then when I lay it
out on the design wall, I can find the size I need fairly quickly. I do
take the time to check the size of each piece before I add it to the
design wall.
3. Cut the fabric according to the assembly diagram. I cut the piece,
and immediately place it on the design wall. If I’m not cutting near my
design wall, I just stack them in the same order as the diagram.
ONE TREE
80" × 93"
This quilt was inspired by the graphic bird print, Monaluna’s Birds
from the Monaco line. I love the print, and I wanted to keep the birds
intact. I thought a tree full of birds would be the perfect setting for
them. I wanted the entire tree to be made of log-cabin style
rectangles. To design the tree, I determined the approximate area
that I wanted the treetop to fill. Then, I filled that area with lots of
squares and rectangles. I wasn’t worried about the stitching since all
of the seams would meet at 90° angles, so I knew the hardest thing I
would encounter would be partial seams — no problem!
From there, I designed a simple trunk and hid little animals in the
trunk as well. As I worked with the design and started pulling fabrics,
I knew that I didn’t want one single background fabric. That’s when I
decided to use low-volume prints. To add more interest to the
background, I rotated the lines by 90° as I moved from one quadrant
to the next.
The primary fabric for the quilt was the bird print. From there, I pulled
lots of green solids and prints for the treetop. For the trunk, I used
prints with woodland animals in mostly brown tones and lots of
brown solids. I wanted to keep the background soft so I chose low-
volume blue and gray prints.
In making fabric selections for this quilt, first decide if you want to
have any animals in the blocks. If not, just put together a large
selection of prints and solids. Including animals doesn’t mean you
have to find one fabric for the treetop, like I did. You could include
several different prints — although, I would keep the selection in the
same color range.
You could reflect a season in the quilt. You could make the tree in
autumn and pull a large variety of fall colors for the treetop. Spring
could be the inspiration, using spring colors and adding a floral color
to the mix. The pattern is written in such a way that any fabric
options could be accommodated.
FABRIC
Note: Because the piecing is improvisational, the green and
brown fabrics are approximate and your yardage amounts will
vary depending on the choices you make.
1 – 2 yards of bird print — enough for 50 center rectangles and
squares, varying from about 2" × 3" to 6" × 6" unfinished,
depending on your print
Approximately 2 ½ – 3 yards total assorted green prints and
solids
Scraps of animal prints in browns — enough for 10 centers
Approximately ¾ – 1 yard total assorted brown prints
Total of 4 ½ yards assorted low-volume prints for background
— no fabric should be less than a ½ yard cut
¾ yard medium-dark aqua for binding
⅛ yard brown for binding (optional for under tree trunk)
TREETOP
Cutting
From the bird print, fussy cut 50 birds of varying sizes and
orientations to be the centers of the blocks.
From the green prints and solids, cut strips of fabrics in varying
widths from 1 ¼" to 2 ½" wide and varying lengths from 3" to the
width of fabric. Since the bird blocks will be pieced improvisationally,
it is not necessary to cut all the strips to begin with. I suggest you cut
some to get started and then decide as you go what you need and
then cut more.
Additionally from the green prints and solids, cut 4 pieces the
following sizes. These are fillers that are too small to have a bird
center.
