Pollitt “Tree of Life” Quilt
Sunday, April 11, 2004 by Michelle
I recently finished a queen-size medallion quilt for my in-laws, Ed and Eleanor. It has been a very long work in progress, started when I was fairly new to quilting. With the enouragement/harassment of my husband, it finally is finished. We gave them the quilt, along with the written statement of what it means, during their visit in March.
Tree of Life
Inspiration - my husband's family, and the book “Biblical Blocks” by R. Makhan.
Interpretation
Central Tree of Life block depicts God’s centrality in their family. This was one of the first blocks I made after starting quilting, but because of the difficulty of this quilt, it was put away for many years as I developed my skills. With much encouragement from Chris, my husband, it finally has been completed!!
Border Blocks (clockwise from top left)
* Card Trick – They love to have “games night” with friends and family, so this block celebrates their love of people coming together to play card and board games.
* Joseph’s Coat – Eleanor is a very colourful woman, and this block reminded me both of her and her beautiful winter coat with the colourful border.
* Road to BC – This is an adaptation of the “Road to California” block, redesigned to depict Chris and his journey West. The two blue sides represent the oceans, the greens and purples the mountains and the yellow and red the prairies… hence Canada in a block!
* Ed’s Block – An adaptation of the block “Crow’s Nest”, because it looks architectural in nature. We wanted to celebrate Ed’s love of architectural line and form.
* Snowball – The snowball block is both to celebrate their lives in Ottawa and because it reminds us of four Tim Horton’s low fat muffins (for Ed)!
* Next Door Neighbour – Celebrates their love of friends and neighbours. They are people who bring people together.
* Palm Leaf or Hosanna Block – Celebrates their dedication to God and the fact that Eleanor is an ordained minister.
* David & Goliath – Celebrates their son David and the hurdles he’s overcome in life.
Border
* Rose of Sharon border – Celebrates their beautiful daughter Sharon.
* The Cat – After Sharon’s death at eight years old, their dear cat “It” joined the family – this motif celebrates his life and place in the Pollitts’ hearts.
Final Notes
* Michelle can be found in the quilting lines in both the red and brown borders. The fleur de lis motifs celebrate her French Canadian heritage. And the heart quilting motifs are to celebrate love!
UPDATE: After ten years, it has been moved from the sofa to the wall. My father-in-law had a sleeve put on the back and it now covers an entire wall in his livingroom. It's still one of the quilts I'm most proud of.