Tree of life (and friendship)

Last March on one of the days Lynne was visiting, she, Tom, and I ran a bunch of errands. One of those was to Joann Fabric and Crafts on 10 West. I’d never been to that location. Lynne said it was a good one, and she was definitely right. I can’t even remember what all I bought there, and who knows what I’ll do with some of the fabrics, but I’ll have them when I need them!

She’d been doing a lot of quilting at that time for friends and family, and she said she’d messed up something and was looking for a replacement fabric with colors drawing from her memory. (This was also the time she picked up the fabric she used as a small border on my mother’s family quilt that I posted a couple of weeks ago. But I digress.)

Turns out she was working on a quilt for my birthday, which she knew was going to be late, and on her recent visit, she brought me the finished quilt. It’s a smaller quilt, the perfect size to curl up with on a bed or chair when I’m reading or watching movies on my laptop. And it’s GORGEOUS!

I’ve been holding off photographing it until we picked up a product she recommended, Shout’s® ColorCatcher® Dye Trapping Sheet, to use when we washed it for the first time. That product is a little miracle because if any color runs, it goes to the sheet and not on the rest of the fabric.

Here’s the front of the quilt.

The center panel is a magical tree in colors, both flat and shiny, that I love.

Here’s a detail photo.

The back of the quilt is the fabric she picked out that day while we were shopping, and it is indeed a great match for the color borders around the tree.

Detail of the borders.

I’m always so awed by everything Lynne sews and creates and by her color palettes. It’s the best birthday friendship quilt I can imagine. Thank you, Lynne! All these wonderful gifts, and I’m STILL not finished with the chapters you’re waiting to read.