As a young girl, I read the entire Anne series by L.M. Montgomery. Anne’s spunk and imagination were something I always admired. Thankfully, I didn’t get into quite as much trouble as Anne did – not that my active imagination didn’t give me plenty of options. I remember one particular occasion, which certainly amused my best friend’s older brother, Clark. Janice and were romping about her farm, looking for an errant cow, that was due to give birth. As we did, we passed by a beautiful grove of trees in the meadow. The trees towered over the grasses and wild flowers, which were nearly ripe for haying. We watched for wildlife as we searched for the cow. We had to be wary of coydogs, which preyed upon the newborn calves and other livestock. I was enraptured by sight of the trees and the sun lowering behind them. Suddenly, I was horrified by what I saw. There was something hanging from a tree and it looked like a body. We ran as fast as we could back to her house to tell someone, anyone, what we thought we saw. Clark volunteered to investigate with us. He climbed onto a large tractor and had each of us sit on a fender to guide him to this tree. Clark, in his normal jovial mood, tried to keep us chattering about anything else as we bounced along. When we arrived at the tree, we pointed to the tree. Clark looked more closely and started to laugh. It was a tangle of branches with leaves that must have fallen in a recent storm. The leaves appeared to be clothing on the large tree limbs. Needless to say, Clark didn’t let Janice and I live that one down for quite some time.
Test Block
This story lay dormant in my memory until I saw the new Hoffman panel – Into the Woods (Catalog page 35). The beauty of the flowers and the copse of trees brought this memory flooding back. Funny how images can trigger such memories. Immediately, I knew I wanted to add a special frame for this panel. A sweet split rail block was used as the focal point of the frame. I have learned that testing these little blocks can help me streamline the piecing methods. Sometimes, the obvious method isn’t the easiest method!
I hope you will like Forest Framed can invoke some fun memories for you too. The fabric will be released soon and the Forest Framed pattern is available today.
Happy Quilting!
Laureen