Honeylocusts are spiny trees with a flattened crown of spreading branches. The bark is fissured in long ridges.
The book’s image1 of Honeylocust cells in tangential section, and low magnification, emphasized the tree’s growth rings. The flame-like cells seemed unusual to me.
Honeylocust
The quilt started with a length of plain white cotton cloth. The background, leaves and acorns, 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, and then overpainted the cells to emphasize the arcs and “flames”. In the border, the rough bark is 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.
- 42" H x 27" W
- Cotton fabrics, cotton threads, paint
- Machine quilted
The quilt was purchased by the University of Montana, Missoula.
Detail
Inside Wood, by William M. Harlow ↩︎