Autumn Oak Leaf Quilt

It’s that color of some oak leaves.  Not red, almost pink, with some of that oak leaf brown.  This weekend I felt like hibernating.  It was cloudy and cold.  We had plans to go out both days, but decided to stay in, with a cup of tea and book, a cat on the couch, both wood stoves glowing. But those oak leaves, the softness of their color compared to the blazing oranges, yellows and reds, they speak of  gentle warmth and comfort.

At the beginning of the winter I decided I was going to try and experience the change in weather as if it were happening for the first.  Without the dread of dreary November and the expectations of being perpetually  cold and craving the sun.  Then I had a dream.  It was of a twig of a tree, about two feet tall.  On it were four oak leaves, representing the four directions. The leaves were velvety soft in texture and color and when I touched the one closest to me, pollen came spilling off it into my hand.

That’s what I was thinking about when I designed this quilt.   The other piece that I made with the drawing of the tree, called Hibernation,  which I wrote about earlier this week, will be the beginnings of another quilt.  I found that they didn’t actually work together, but are two separate pieces.

So my new quilt is called  Autumn Oak Leaf.   All the solid reds and tans are corduroy, making it warm in color and fabric.  The icy blues remind me of the cold winter air.  It has pieces of an old patchwork pillow sham in it and tea-stained Vintage Hankies.   Lots of the pattens on the materials I chose just happen to be leaves.

I’m waiting for some batting to come in the mail then I’ll back it and tack it.