Saturday 2 March 2013

Family Tree Wallhanging - A Snapshot in Time

 “Like branches on a tree we grow in different directions, yet our roots remain as one. Each of our lives will always be a special part of the other.” —Anonymous

So I was all set to be funny and flippant about my family tree quilt, then I came across this quote. And it is perfect. And thoughtful. And deep. And not funny or flippant at all. But I wanted to include it in this blog post as it’s so appropriate and now I need to find some way to include it as part of my quilt.

Which I am now posting about it… as it is finished! Well as finished as a family tree quilt can be – more like a little snapshot of how our family looked in 2013. The leaves will change with new generations but this’ll be a nice momento of how our motley bunch looked at this point of time.

Family Tree Quilt - on canvas

My grandmother turns 90 this year. This is going to be one of her birthday gifts from the family. Buying gifts for a 90 year old is hard – but I think this works. It’s been a bit of a test of my patience and creativity, but I think I have risen to the challenge and I am happy, nay, thrilled with the result!

It started with this. And I mean, not just this quilt, but our whole family. Started with this little snippet of a love letter that my grandfather wrote to my grandmother when they were first dating.

Snippet of my grandfather's writing on fabric

It reads: “we are going to get engaged, and then Married, and live happily ever after – now don’t you think that is a Swell Romance Story. Well Pat dearest, I will have to close.”

I used this romantic snippet and made it into a repeat graphic, popped over to Spoonflower and tada – beautiful, sentimental and very personalised fabric.

That is the background for our family tree. Appropriate in more ways than one, don’t you think? My Nan has lived double the lifespan that my Grandfather did – he died at age 44 of lung cancer. My mum was 16. So my generation has never met him, but we know a lot about him and he was a wonderful man. To be able to include him in such a way in this family tree quilt is really special.

Pat and Mac's wedding

So from there, the idea of the family tree quilt took off. I went from ideas of a photo quilt, a scrapbook-y memory quilt (featuring doilies made by my nan and great-grandmother) til I finally settled on a literal interpretation of a family tree.

I loosely used the tree layout from the Don’t Look Now pattern – though my tree has a lot less leaves and birds than the pattern! Then it was a case of lots of embroidery, fusible webbing, careful cutting and raw edge applique. And possibly there were at least three different layouts of leaves before I settled on this – rough groups of leaves in to family groups, rather than a more random scattered look like I first planned.

Family Leaves

I added in a little birdie – partly because there was a gap in my leaves and partly because I think it adds a really nice touch of whimsy.

Chirpie bird in the tree

For a little more family history, I added a little “ribbon” of family tartan (made of real tartan fabric ordered from Ireland by my aunt) around the trunk of the tree.

Tartan around the trunk of the family tree

The hard work was complete. Then I had the worry of… do I quilt this? How do I quilt this? How do I prepare this to be a decent piece of wall art?

Well thanks to Gemma (of Pretty Bobbins) who recently used a canvas for her wall art… my dilemma was solved. I just had to get brave and use a staple gun without taking out an eye, or stapling my fingers to the floor. Proud to say I achieved it, all body parts still intact.

Closeup of Family Tree Quilt

I found the perfect sized canvas (36” square) though I did need to add a little bit of fabric to the top and bottom to make it long enough to wrap around to be stapled on the back. I triple stitched those strips of fabric on in hopes it’ll help maintain the integrity of the fabric where it’s stretched a little. I didn’t tighten it too much as I didn’t want to distort the applique work. I added a layer of batting underneath the quilt (to protect in case there are weird chemicals on the canvas - who knows? I'm new to this!). Oh and the corners aren’t perfect (they are hard!!!) but they’re okay.
Family tree quilt and signature quilt

My problem now is it looks so good on my dining room wall I don’t want to take it down! I think I may leave it there until the 90th party in a few weeks so I can admire it in the meantime.

Oh and those squares on the table there? That’s the rest of Nan’s birthday present. Signature squares signed by friends and family around the country. I’ll be putting those together this afternoon into a lap quilt for Nan. I think she’ll really enjoy reading them while she stays warm under this quilt! I will post more about that and share some of the fabulous squares (and there are some creative ones in there!) when I get the quilt finished.

For now, I’m going to go and enjoy my new wall art. And plan up some more wallhangings for my staple gun and I to work on together.

Where it all started

Fresh Poppy Design
Plum and June

31 comments:

  1. A beautiful project you should be very proud of! It is stunning!

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  2. I have really enjoyed watching you make this one. Thank you so much for sharing your journey. You should be so proud. hugs

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  3. What a beautiful thoughtful gift. She will be so touched. Good job

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  4. Wow! That is so so special. Wish my family tree had that many leaves. I love how you incorporated the love letter as the background fabric.

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  5. Kristy, this is absolutely lovely. What a treasure!

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  6. Your family tree is beautiful Kristy - it looks really pretty, but it is also one of those lovely gifts where so much thought and care has gone into each little part - I'm sure your grandmother will be moved.

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  7. This looks amazing and I'm sure your grandmother will love it. Glad to see you got all your signed blocks back in time too!

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  8. It looks so fab as a canvas and it does look fab on your wall too. Such a shame that your grandfather died at an early age, it must be hard on Pat some days. Including his tender but matter of fact words will bring a tear or joy to her eyes no doubt.

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  9. It looks fantastic! What a lovely present for your nan. That and the lap quilt should bring her lots of happy memories on her birthday!

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  10. Oh wow... I love everything about this quilt. Promise you will submit to to the quilt festival and you'll have my vote :) I can't even imagine how happy your grandmother will be when she gets it. It's a treasure.

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  11. It has turned out fabulous Kristy, your grandmother (and the rest of the family) will no doubt be stunned when they see it. Fantastic idea to make it a wall canvas, now you will have to come up with another one to fill that gap when you hand it over to your Gran!

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  12. I think any one of those element would have grandma and family reaching for the tissues - be prepared for floods!

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  13. What a beautiful, thoughtful and personal gift for your grandmother. I love your use of your grandfather's love letter as the background for the wallhanging (which looks terrific and I can see why you don't want to part with it!)and the special lap quilt.

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  14. Kristy that is so beautiful! I bet it brings tears to a few eyes!

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  15. What a fantastic finish! I love this project and the Spoonflower fabric makes it so personal and special!

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  16. It is so lovely and special Kristy. Well done you! Am sure the whole family will be thrilled. x

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  17. What an amazing and wonderful present.

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  18. The Family Tree turned out wonderful! Your Grandmother is going to LOVE it!

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  19. Your Family Tree is truly beautiful and soooo special! I know your grandmother will be so touched , and feel so loved by your wall hanging and quilt!

    Susie

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  20. The wall hanging could not have turned out more perfect Kristy!! A very special, thoughtful piece and a true treasure!! I think you need to make another piece to hang above your table as when you give the tree to Nan you will have a blank slate. I love the happy colors of the lap quilt and hope you have made progress on that as well!

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  21. In lieu of words: <3 <3 <3 !

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  22. I want to cry! It is SO beautiful! Putting it on canvas was a stroke of genius!!

    Your grandmother is going to adore it...

    Wow...

    What a treasure....

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  23. Oh, well done!! That background fabric is tremendously cool. She is going to really love this with all her heart.

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  24. It is beautiful and perfect... your grandmother will love it!! Thanks for sharing every little heartwarming detail!!

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  25. Using the canvas was a great idea. It's fantastic! I think it will be loved. :)

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  26. Your grandmother is one lucky lady. I know she will be so pleased when she receives such a precious gift.

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  27. Wow, it is just beautiful. I absolutely love the fabric you had made for it too, such lovely words :)

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  28. It is just perfect in every way!

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  29. This is a beautiful project. I love the idea, the execution, and the gift itself! So special!

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  30. I love the fabric. So sweet. I think it is perfect for her birthday, and will be a wonderful family heirloom to be passed down through many generations.

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  31. What a treasure you have made. I'm sure you've inspired other to make one for their family.

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