Wooden quilts – FineWoodworking

In my last blog entry, I explained the concept of scrap of notes. Scrap of notebook refers to fine wood that is often overlooked as scrap but that can be turned into a valuable canvas for new projects. Today I’d like to delve into another resource for woodworking enthusiasts. It is a small, mundane piece of wood that is expertly assembled to create an artistic surface quilt. These quilts can be used to mold furniture tops and panels to add a unique touch to your woodworking projects.

My interest in this technique began while researching a book. “Processing of Recycled Wood” Explore innovative approaches using recycled materials. As I delved into this subject, I was surprised to discover some reproduction artists who have shown great skill in combining small pieces of wood to form tapestries of color and grain.favorite artist Pete Hein Eek, Eileen Ferri, Gilad Eljazand Victor Valencia Some people incorporate reclaimed and weathered wood into their quilts, while others prefer to use recently processed wood scraps.

Although this form of surfacing is commonly associated today with scrap or reclaimed wood media, its aesthetic origins can be traced to parquet floor designs.

There are two main ways to make a wood quilt. One is by joining parts to form a structural panel, similar to how “butcher blockboard” is glued, and the other is by gluing parts of a quilt to a structural substrate. The first method is described here and the second in a subsequent blog post.

structural wood quilt

The first technology allows you to trust the quilt as a true structural panel. This type of tapestry has structural integrity and can serve as a table top, a sturdy door, or a piece of furniture torso. Creating a quilt like this requires great care to mill the pieces precisely to achieve perfect alignment, matching edges, and attention to grain direction.

In addition to the simple method of gluing parts side by side (pressing each part along the edge into the next one, similar to masonry walls), you can also create solid quilts by assembling subunits that are easy to glue together. increase. Once the subunit adhesive has cured, it is joined and milled to design before being assembled for final bonding. Another method of creating structural quilts is the onion method. In this method, several inner circle segments are glued together to form a central piece unit, and additional pieces are gradually added around it to increase the surface area. This incremental process is recommended for complex quilt shapes, but like the previous method, subsequent pieces should be joined continuously before edge gluing.

quilt plan

Here are some plans for lining up short scraps to make a quilt. Note that some layout designs have elements cut diagonally. It is not necessary to keep the butt edges square all the time. Interest is born by cutting offcuts diagonally.

Utilizing offcuts made from two types of wood

In this example, scraps of different lengths show how scraps can be arranged in a quilt. If you have offcuts of two types of wood (for example, maple and walnut), the darker wood can be used for the accent geometric pattern to make the panel look more striking.

Some glue configurations are easier than others

As you can see in both examples below, I glued the scraps together and cut the panels into circles to form the table top.

Next time, I’ll introduce a second approach to making wood quilts: quilted tapestries on structural substrates.

before in this series