Quadrifolium Quilt

A quadrifolium is a mathematical curve having 4 lobes like a 4-leaf clover - or in Latin, quadr meaning four, and foli meaning leaf. During my graduate program, I worked in alfalfa, which, like clover, is a trifoliate (3-leaved) plant used for hay and forage. Sometimes through mutation or environmental stress, a rare fourth leaf develops. The rarity of finding a four-leafed clover is what has made it famously lucky throughout culture. When you find one, it’s somewhat magical, as if those four leaves were also looking for you.

This design evolved from the main block in Scintilla Quilt where a smaller curve is nested under a larger curve. Except here, a smaller orange peel shape is nested inside a larger one. You’ll see the four leafed design featured at the center radiating out to a frame of four additional sets of leaves. This quilt was entirely made from stash and thrifted fabrics: he peach dot and solid pink were both cotton curtains. I finished the bound edge with decorative embroidery to mimic the sea of three-leaved plants that surrounds the lucky four-leafed clover.