Quilt Curio Cabinet

My wife has several quilts with sentimental value, from her mother and grandmother. She mentioned a long time ago that she’d like a nice quilt cabinet, so I made her one as a surprise Christmas gift (though it got delivered late). The top opens up, and the quilts hang from walnut dowels on the inside. I got the idea for this design from a similar cabinet I found on here, but the size and final design was my own. I know opinions will vary on this, but I really like the look of the mix of sapwood and heartwood on the walnut, so I incorporated it here.

This was by far my largest project to date. The frame is mortise & tenon joints, and I added some additional walnut framing on the inside to give added stability. I cut rabbets for the glass and plywood panels. A list of firsts for this project:

-First time cutting mortise and tenon joints
-First time using a router freehand
-First time using a hand plane
-First time using glass in a project
-First time doing a massive glue-up

I was very nervous taking on this project, and I couldn’t have done it without the help of the Kansas City Woodworkers Guild. For me, it was a massive undertaking that I was wholly unprepared for, but the guys at the shop helped me through it and I’m very grateful for that. It’s full of imperfections, and things often didn’t go as planned, but I’m very happy with the final product. More importantly, my wife loves it!