open main page for all woods          open page 2 for articles



QUILTED

Quilted figure somewhat resembles a larger and exaggerated version of pommele or blister figure but has bulges that are elongated and closely crowded. Quilted grain looks three-dimensional when seen at its billowy best. Most commonly found in maple, it also occurs in mahogany, moabi, myrtle, and sapele, and less often in other species.

---

Examples:


quilted makore veneer and quilted sapele plank. These are both what is sometimes called "sausage" quilt because of the tube-like nature of the quilt.


maple veneer with the classic quilted figure showing the "bubbly" look that you also see in the makore directly above


sapele veneer --- the first piece was labeled "pomelle quilted" which is just a little bit like saying "quilted quilted" and the second was just labeled quilted


maple planks


maple veneer that was listed as quilted but definitely looks more like what is normally called pomelle


maple veneer


moabi veneer


bubinga rotary cut veneer of the type called "kevazinga", which is sometimes referred to as a quilted figure but more often as a swirly figure or curly figure and most often of all just "kevazinga" because it really isn't like any other figure.


birch veneer that was sold to me as quilted even though it seems to me to NOT be quilted but just curly.


walnut veneer --- both were labeled quilted but it seems to me that the first is much more clearly pomelle and the second is curly, not quilted


red oak veneer that is very unusual (for oak) and seems to be a case of the vendor having to find SOMETHING fancy to call it (since it IS much more fancy than normal oak) and he flipped a coin and chose quilted instead of curly. OK, maybe I'm being a little too cynical here --- it IS probably more quilted than curly.


redwood veneer with a strikingly attractive grain pattern that could be called "curly, quilted, swirly, beautiful, call it what you want to" veneer and just goes to show how useless these names can sometimes be in the face of actual wood, which can defy labels in the most delightful way.