Mended Leaves Quilt
Quilt is 48 x 56"
This quilt includes blocks which I swapped in winter 1999/2000 with the
following quilters on QuiltSwappers: Kim Bagala, Rochelle Matthews, Sue Schmidt,
and Jan Adams. I started the quilt in June 1999 by experimenting with
using the mended hearts technique with leaves instead of hearts.
These blocks definitely do not have enough contrast. The leaves just blend
into the background.
The top row is sycamore, middle row is Arizona sycamore, and bottom row
looks like turnips but is really cottonwood. These leaves came from my own
neighborhood in New Mexico.
I liked this technique much better. These three were made as a set.
First I quilted the top, batting, and backing. Then I stacked and cut.
Then I rearranged the pieces and mended the backgrounds. Finally I
appliqued the leaf on. The middle block looks
unrelated because I flipped it over and used the back side instead of the
side with two yellows. Finished blocks are 8" square. For the
quiltswappers swap we used only greens on
the back, but the back of my quilt is much more colorful.
This quilt is dedicated to the memory of my father, Edward Blakslee
(1918-2000), who helped me choose the leaves from around his Arizona home, and watched me
make many of the blocks. On February 1, 2000 we used this mended leaves
quilt and a related mended leaves table runner to cover the rock altar and
lectern at the Rock Chapel at Chapel Rock Episcopan Conference Center in
Prescott, Arizona, where his funeral service was held.
The quilt was used again as an altarcloth on Easter Sunday, 2000, when
Christ Church, Hillsboro, NM held an Easter sunrise service near
Caballo, NM. The quilt now belongs to my sister, Sally
Simmons, who displays it in her dining room.
Here's the quilt hanging on Sally's dining room wall.
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