Large Leaf Magnolia Quilt

“Large Leaf Magnolia,”

8" x 15", made by Pam Geisel, Jan. 2014

My friend Debra asked me to make her a quilt featuring a tree that was recently planted in her yard. It is a Large Leaf Magnolia and while they aren't very common to our area, they will grow here. We actually saw some growing in the woods in Kentucky in the Red River Gorge area.

This tree was planted by a mutual friend who also commissioned a quilt, that one featured the bloom from a Large Leaf Magnolia tree. (You can see it on this page.)

Back before it got cold and snowy I took this photo. One of the things I love about where this tree is located is that the leaves get a lot of light behind them and they look like they are glowing.

One of the things that Debra loves about this tree is because it is unusual for this area, people will stop and ask her what type of tree it is.

I simplified the tree and only included four leaves on top so each leaf could be more distinct. I also got rid of the fence and the rocks around the mulch so the focus would be the tree itself.

It was Debra's idea to have one leaf by itself as a separate quilt and attached to the piece with the tree. I attached the two pieces using frosted brown beads because the color of the beads picked up the color of the trunk and the mulch at the bottom of the quilt.

I added some shadows to the leaves by using pieces of fabric and did some thread painting to make the veins on the leaves. I did stipple quilting in the background.

The mulch was made as a fabric mosaic, with little pieces of brown fabric fused to a background, covered with netting, then stitched with brown thread in a random zigzag pattern.