I Got It!

As I was driving to work this morning, I figured out where I wanted the tree quilt to go, and what I wanted to do to get it there.

It's important to know that my plan for this quilt was 1. A quilt of trees in New Hampshire in October (which is peak fall foliage season) and 2. A table quilt for my table to use in October (duh).  That means the quilt has to fit on the table, and the design has to work.  Since the table has four sides,  then the quilt couldn't be trees going in one direction only. Or it could, of course, if somebody else made it, but not me.

There's a push pin stuck in the design wall about five inches from the top of the red tree block in the middle. That push pin represents the center of my table. The table is 40" wide so the push pins on either side of that, near the base of the horizontal trees represent the edge of the table. That means wherever you sit at my table, the trees in front of you will be going in the right direction. It also means that the second row (on the far right) will fall over the edge of the table. There are three more push pins that represent that front edge of the table. The bottom two rows of trees, that gently rise up toward the middle, will fall over the edge of the table, and be visible. Of course I need to make a lot more blocks so you'll have to use your imagination to figure out what the finished thing will look like.

My plan is that the values of the background of the trees will shift as the trees go around the edge, but they will not be perfectly symmetrical on either side (because: bo-ring) Also, toward the corners, my plan is to sort of "miter" the design of the trees, making them smaller, but not cutting any off.  So that is the PLAN.  We'll see how it all turns out.

I've made a few overlapping trees, and you can see three of them in this photo (yes, the third pair is hiding.)

I will fill in the edges and white spaces with scraps and I'll work it out as I go. Right now I do not see the need for any "extras" like birds, butterflies, pinwheels or anything else.

I did make a few small trees, but I'm not sure I'm going to use them. I think they break up the rhythm of the big trees that I like and want to keep.

This is a tree near my house that is in the process of turning red. As you can see, the leaves go straight from green to RED. And yes, when the color is good, these leaves will be RED.

Yes, I will have more brightly colored trees in the quilt. "Peak foliage" in the mountains is expected this coming weekend, and the state and highways will be clogged with "Leaf Peepers". NEXT WEEKEND is the peak for the trees in my area.

 Did you think I was joking?