Tree of Life Quilt

7. Cut one-inch segments into another large piece of fabric and tear the fabric strips vertically but leave it attached two inches from the top of the fabric. Continue to cut and tear the fabric in one-inch widths leaving it attached at the top as noted above. Tip: When completed it will resemble a hula skirt.

8. Pin the two-inch fabric band to the top of the foam board (that is covered with the gray flannel and the fusible interfacing).

9. Untangle the fabric strips and cut or pull out any stray threads.

10. Cut and tear hand-dyed batiks into one-inch strips for weaving.

11. Cut commercial fabrics with a rotary cutter into one-inch strips.

12. Back lightweight silks or polyester fabrics with a fusible interfacing then cut with a rotary cutter into one-inch strips.

Weaving

13. Pin the beginning of the horizontal fabric strips leaving three inches of fabric before the first vertical fabric strip. Start weaving (under--over--under) the fabric strips and pinning only at end of the row leaving a three-inch tail beyond the end of the last vertical strip.

14. Continue with the second row and weave (over-under-over) to the end of the vertical fabric strip. Make sure that the fabric extends three inches at the beginning and end of the weave.

15. Continue to weave the horizontal fabric strips until you reach the end of the vertical fabric strips. Pin at the beginning and end of each horizontal row. Color changes in horizontal fabric strips should be hidden and pinned under the vertical strips.

16. After weaving each board, fuse the woven fabrics together with a steam iron. Be careful not to shift any of the strips while pressing. Gently steam and press the fabric. Pull out the pins and remove the woven fabric from the board.

17. Flip the woven fabric over and steam the back of the fusible web to the woven fabric group for additional stability.

18. Square up the fabric with a ruler and rotary cutter.

19. Steps #1 to #18 should be repeated for the each of the 1/2-yard of woven fabrics.

20. You should now have three separate woven fabrics. Tree fabric, ground fabric and night sky fabric. Each grouping of fabrics is ready for assembly.

Assembly

1. The night sky woven fabric will be used at the top half of the piece reflecting the sky.

2. The ground woven fabric will be used as the bottom of the piece (cut to size 8-1/2" x 21-1/2"). Use a 1/4-inch seam to attach the ground to the night sky.

3. Make a batik border and place it around the ground and night sky with a 1/4-inch seam.

4. Cut one 3-3/4" x 22" strips for the top border (inset between the side borders) sew to the top of the woven fabric group night sky using a 1/4-inch seam.

5. Cut two 3-3/4" x 51" strips for the side border, sew to the sides of the two connected woven fabrics using a 1/4-inch seam.

6. Cut one 7" x 28-1/2" strip for the bottom border, sew to the woven fabric (ground) and sew to each of the side borders using a 1/4-inch seam.

7. Cut the batting to the size of your quilt top. Place the quilt top face down on a beach towel and spray with the 505 Spray-and-Fix (to attach the batting to the fabric). Pick up the quilt top from the towel and press the sticky side down onto the batting and press until secure.

8. Machine-quilt the raw edges row-by-row and column-by-column using a decorative stitch with super-twist metallic thread. When using metallic threads for the night sky and polyester thread for the ground, use Bottom Line thread in the bobbin. This prevents bobbin thread breakage. Apply Sewers Aid sparingly and evenly across the thread for smooth machine sewing.

9. Machine-quilt diagonals throughout the piece with the same thread described in step #8.

Tree

10. The last woven piece of woven fabric will be used to create a tree.

11. Fuse the tree-woven fabric with fusible web (Lite Steam-a-Seam) per manufacturer's instructions. It will allow the fusible web to be used later to attach it to the main foundation piece.

12. Flip the tree fabric over and draw the outline of the tree on the back side. Cut the tree out of the fabric and place it on the foundation piece for sizing and placement. Do not secure the tree at this time.

13. Fuse the tree on top of other fused appliquéd pieces such as the moon, clouds or mountains.

14. After the tree is fused over the other appliqué pieces, machine-quilt the tree using decorative threads for embellishment. Outline the tree with a satin stitch and use darker fused fabrics for shading in the root area. Add sheer fabrics as layering on top of the other fabrics for additional embellishments and added dimension. When using sheer fabrics pin to the desired area and stitch down with a zigzag stitch. Use green and turquoise sequin fabrics for leaves. Cut, pin and sew using a satin stitch around each leaf.

15. Embellish with beads.

16. Couch hand-dyed yarns in desired locations using a sewing machine with a couching foot or by hand.

17. Add words with alphabet letters to desired locations.

18. Cut the backing fabric to size of the quilt top. Spray the back of quilt with 505 and adhere to the backing fabric. Zigzag-stitch to secure.