QUILT!!! :D :D :D

:D This is a project that I have been planning for about three years and started last summer with buying the material for it. I actually started the serious cutting and sewing work in February or March though. It is a gift for Sam and Melissa. I would have liked to have made it for their wedding, but when you only give two months warning... :P

This is a different quilt from any that I have made before. I am trying applique as well as something that is almost trapunto. This was how it all started. Choosing the colors for each tree and laying them out and doing some drawing with chalk. I spend a little time on the internet trying to find trees that I liked and copied them a little.
Each tree represents a family. On the left is the "oak" which represents Melissa's family: grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, her parents and her brother. The tree on the right is a pretend poplar and represents Sam's family. Same groups included as on Melissa's except that I also put Pris' kids on this one (Melissa has a bigger extended family, so I needed to even things out). The middle tree is a little maple and it, naturally, represents Sam and Melissa's family.
You can see the development in each picture. These pictures actually represent hours of work and agonizing over design and cutting things "just right", which really never happens. This is actually just the center piece of the quilt. I'm planning on putting a wide border on it too. The center piece is I believe 4"x5" but I can't remember just at the moment. The whole quilt will be king-sized in the end to fit their bed and mostly to make sure it covers Sam from the top of his head to the tip of his toes. ;)
Each family member is represented on the trees by a leaf or a flower. Boys are leaves; girls are flowers. Above is a family grouping from the poplar tree, it looks like Uncle Jerry's family to me. And yes, the leaves are similar in shape to real poplar leaves, but no, the flowers are actually based more off a dogwood in shape and the red color was chosen for Melissa and to match their bedroom.
This grouping is from the oak tree and they are a type of oak leaf. I think "English Oak". The flowers are fruit tree blossoms in shape.
I chose the oak for Melissa's family, partly because she has more people and it had more room, but more so because somehow in my mind I associate oak trees with America. With American heritage. The poplar was chosen for Sam's family because it reminds me of Holland and Ukraine, particularly Holland. A lot of the roads there are lined with poplars as they are here in Ukraine, plus it's a tall thin tree and that works for him too! :D
The maple was chosen for Sam and Melissa's family because I wanted something different and maples are both pretty trees and of course the maple leaf is on the Canadian flag, plus grandma and grandpa had one in their yard by the house in Damascus.

So that's a little about the quilt. I'll put more photos up next week. I'm actually a lot further along, but I was trying to keep it a secret from Sam and Melissa for a long time, but I just couldn't anymore!
Quilting is my hobby and perhaps something I do to leave my mark on my family so that I won't be forgotten too. I just enjoy creating new designs and trying out new techniques. I am not an expert quilter and my quilts really show that, but they are always made with love and many prayers!