Red Oak Cross Section x5

Oak trees have extremely strong structures, even among hardwood species. This allows their branches to grow very long horizontally.

The book’s image¹ of Red Oak cells in cross section, and low magnification, emphasized the tree’s growth rings.

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 ring cells in bright colors to emphasize the arcs. 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.

• 41" H x 27" W
• Cotton fabrics, cotton threads, paint
• Machine quilted

Detail