Description

Red alder trees are related to birches, and have small elliptical cones with long stalks. The bark is smooth, growing into broad plates.

A microscopic image of Red Alder cells in cross section seemed to be a gridlike pattern.

The quilt started with a length of plain white cotton cloth. The background, leaves and cones were painted. The silhouette of the trunk and branches were drawn with fabric pastels. This cloth was centered over a larger batting and backing, creating an open border. I free-motion stitched the microscopic details with variegated threads. In the border, the bark was painted in acrylic to achieve a hard texture. There is no binding; instead, the edges were hand-cut to continue the bark pattern, and the raw edge of the cotton batting was also painted.

• 43″ H x 27″ W
• Cotton fabrics, cotton threads, paint
• Machine quilted