Red Alder Cross Section x25

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

The book’s image¹ 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

Detail