Homework Kills Trees!

    

     The centerpiece for this quilt was a t-shirt that my son used to wear.  It came as a hand-me-down from friends and then it was worn by my son who left it in the yard. We have a big yard and the kids leave shoes, socks, coats, jackets, sweatshirts, hats, gloves and all manner of apparel laying in the yard, hanging from trees, or draped over a fence or the swing set. They get to playing -- running, jumping, riding bikes -- and they get hot and strip off the outer layers and "forget" to bring them in. I don't think they really forget, they are just too lazy to retrieve their items before they come in for the night. And if I don't see the clothing the next day and have them pick it up, it lays out there until I find it later. 

By the time I found this particular t-shirt, it was faded by the sun. It came out of the wash just fine and the fading added character to it. I stashed it for a while and one day I pulled it out with the intention of using it in a quilt.

While I thought the front of the shirt was cute, I didn’t really care for the colors that were in it. But that was the challenge: Could I build a quilt around it using a color scheme I wasn't naturally drawn to?  

     I planned a layout similar to the T-Rex quilt.  This pattern is easy to work with and I had a lot of fun matching colors to the centerpiece block.

    I have to say that this whole quilt is somewhat of an experiment.  On the back I used a tablecloth. It was brand new in the package, a pretty gold color, somewhat shimmery, with a nice texture. 

I got the idea from one of the sweetest people you'd ever meet. Her name is Rose and she is a member of our congregation. She is a seasoned quilter and, sadly, she lost her eyesight a couple of years ago. She would often shop for tablecloths, especially after the holidays. She liked the thicker, high quality fabrics and she used them to back many of her beautiful quilts.  

     I tried something different with the batting, too.  A while back, my husband gave me a fleece, zip up blanket.  The zipper broke and I never repaired it because I didn’t care for the color of the blanket.  It sat around for a long time and no one else used it because the zipper was scratchy and always in the way.  So, I decided to use it as the batting for this quilt.  The whole quilt has a really nice weight to it, heavier than most quilts of its size.  Plus, it is extra warm.  Of course, we're not very interested in warmth on these 90+ degree days, are we? 😬 But it will be nice for winter.   

     I really like how the bits of yellow and gold pop out to coordinate with the bulldozer and the back of the quilt.

The binding is a medium green, leaf print which goes well with the tree in the center block.  

     Vertical, straight line quilting across the patchwork; meandering in the center block.

   

     It’s rather coincidental that this was the last quilt I worked on.  I finished it last month (June). The center block shows a bulldozer pushing over a tree and that's currently what is happening all around us.

     For the past three weeks, we’ve been hearing the sounds of deforestation: chain saws, trees crashing to the ground, the rumble of massive grinding machines, and the excessively loud beeping of heavy equipment. Just a few hundred feet behind our house, there has been a work crew clearing the forest.  It has nothing to do with harvesting trees for paper.  It actually has something to do with the utilities that run underground. For some reason, after all these years, the government is now turning their attention to them and having all the overgrowth cleared.  It doesn’t matter that you own the property, nor does it matter that there are trees that have been there for nearly a hundred years, they are clearing a sixty to one hundred foot swath all along the utility line which runs for miles and miles.  Because of Eminent Domain, they can do whatever they want with the property.

     Considering everything, we are very fortunate.  While the whole neighborhood is being affected, we aren’t experiencing the brunt of the destruction.  Our neighbors next door, however, are being heavily impacted.  They have a beautifully wooded lot and they will be left with very few trees. Most of their yard will look like this:

     I know that the companies have to maintain their lines, but, I don’t think they have to do it in such a heavy handed way.  Why do they need to clear such a wide path? And why are they just grinding up the wood? Why wouldn't they at least give the timber to someone who will put it to use? It just seems like such a waste.

Obviously, there is a time to take down trees.  After all, we build with lumber: homes, sheds, furniture, flooring, etc. I even enjoy the smell of fresh cut wood in a workshop.  But it seems senseless to cut down all of these humongous trees and grind them into mulch.  If they are going to kill the trees, at least use the wood for something beneficial.

     There are two trees in the demolition zone around us that we guessed to be at least 75 years old.  When you stand under them and look up, they have a widespread canopy of branches and leaves.  They are strong, healthy trees and provide beautiful shade on a hot and humid summer day. 

   My husband and I took a hike into the work zone one day to talk to the work crew.  We were hoping that they might spare those two trees.  Unfortunately, we were told that the trees are directly over the utility and they will be taken down.  The head of the work crew estimated the two trees to be even older than we thought, maybe around 100 years old.   

     I know that, in the grand scheme of things, most people consider trees non-consequential.  But it has taken more than a lifetime for these trees to grow so large.  Their absence will leave a gaping hole in the landscape and the sun will scorch the land where there was once a welcoming shade. And, while we can plant other trees to replace them, we will not live long enough to see them grow to such majestic heights again. 

     Everything you see in the photo above will be gone by the time you read this.  The entire area in front of my daughter is slated for clearing.  There will only be dirt where there was once a lush, green landscape.  I wish we could "Stop the madness!"  

Quilt Stats

Name:  Homework Kills Trees!

Size:  55 ½“ x 52 ¼“

Top pieces:  315

Backing:  New tablecloth

Batting:  Repurposed fleece blanket