Nature Quilt For Grandma, 2022

Quilt - Calico, Bandana Binding, Felt and Embroidery Thread, 28cm x 37cm

I made this piece for Grandma for her to have in her care home which I designed inspired by nature. She was known as Tree Woman for her love of nature, especially trees because she planted thousands on her land in Ireland. She had a log cabin built and then a house with wood as the main material inspired by Scandinavian design. I chose a bunch of different shaped and coloured leaves native to the UK, as well as a swallow and hare. She loved bird watching and always had feeders outside her kitchen window to see them flying around. She had a silver necklace with two swallows as the pendants which she bought from local artisans. For my 10th birthday we were staying in Ireland and Mum, Dad and Grandma bought me a silver chain with a hare pendant which was inspired by an old Eire coin with native animals on it. We would get so happy and excited when we saw hares coming to visit her land, and that feeling was felt this year while me Mum and Dad were in Norfolk where we saw a few hares prancing through the golden fields of wheat.

I used green fabric I tie dyed to match the green bandana binding around the edges and leaves on the front. As you can briefly see in the video, as well as the batting inside the quilt I included a felt layer with embroidered text on it. I was hoping to make Grandma a felt card for her 80th Birthday in 2020, but I guess pain/fatigue was too much and I never got round to finishing it. I wanted to include the sentiment inside even if it was two years late. The final step is adding quilting stitches (the five cream stitches you can see throughout the whole piece to keep all layers attached to each other). I love the simplicity of how this piece turned out and know she would have loved it if she didn’t have Alzheimers and could understand.