Finished Blue Ridge Quilt

 I think I am finished with the Blue Ridge Quilt. My purpose in making this wall hanging was two fold. I wanted a nice thank you gift for our friends and I wanted to do a dry run on the four trees. In an earlier post I shared that the trees are from a McKenna Ryan pattern. I didn't want to just jump in and do the beautiful pattern without practicing on the trees first. I am so glad I did! I improved my technique... well, actually I didn't even have a technique :-)  I practiced free motion quilting ( don't look too closely). I  played with colors. One thing I am getting good at is mitered corners on the binding of my wall hangings. I like the blue binding and how it enhances the mountains.

Speaking of the mountains, I'm happy with the way they turned out. They appear to have the depth I was hoping for. I need to focus on shadows. When I visit other blogs, the real pros can do shadows beautifully and that's what makes it all look so real. I need to research how to do shadowing and light and dark areas of landscaped.  I used an irregular, small zig zag stitch to outline the mountains. I also used black thread to make them really pop. So much more to learn! 

I just keep giving it a go... hanging in there, trying to get better. It really is all so much fun. I'm up for the challenge!

Keep those finger busy,

Hugs from Mary