Birch Tree Grove

I'm back to being artistic and adventurous with fabric... This is where I like to be... playing with colors and pretending that I know what I'm doing!
So... Here's my newest endeavor...


I have several landscape art quilt books that I've noted in previous posts. Both books advise to cut out shapes and use a regular glue stick to temporarily hold them on the background. Then you use invisible thread to attach permanently. Next you shade the tree trunk sides with oil pastels. Well... and this is where I usually get into trouble... I got to thinking... why attach with invisible thread and then shade with pastels... Why not shade and attach in one step. So, I used an irregular zig-zag stitch on my machine and stitched the left sides of the tree trunks with a dark poly thread and the right sides with a light gray poly thread... I love my results! I think it is shaded better than what I did on previous work with the oil pastels. And, I loved being able to thread sketch some definition into the trunks.



For the tree tops... Well I have a long way to go. But for now I'll say that rather than use the glue stick to attach I went back to fusing. AND... I cut the irregular shapes with my pinking shears! That was an incredible "ah, ha" for me.



 I'm going to fine tune the area; possibly bring the leaves lower on the trunks, and then start thread sketching details and layers. Scary thought... I don't want to be queen of the seam ripper again, so I may do some research on techniques and experiment on scraps... (What a novel idea!)  I also want to use the fabric markers and sketch in more tree trunks in the background so that it all looks more three dimensional.

That's it for now... I'm off to walk and then clean house.
Keep stitchin' for the ones you love!
Hugs from Mary

Comments

  1. MulticoloredPiecesNovember 1, 2011 at 11:08 AM

    I really like your birch trees. Interesting fabrics and technique. I enjoy thread sketching too.
    best from Tunisia,
    nadia

    ReplyDelete
  2. Judy FergusonNovember 1, 2011 at 12:37 PM

    Thank you so much, Mary, for visiting my blog and your very kind comment about my work. I had to laugh at your "Queen of the Seam Ripper" joke. We are all just experimenting, after all.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Karen MNovember 1, 2011 at 5:23 PM

    Your idea of using thread instead of colored pencil is absolutely spot on. This is looking great. I am anxious to see the next steps. Way to go.

    ReplyDelete
  4. LindaNovember 1, 2011 at 8:36 PM

    Your trees are wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jessica PierreAugusteNovember 2, 2011 at 11:07 AM

    Beautiful, I am excited to see how this turns out.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Ghastly Party... It's BYOB!

Image
Welcome to Crooked Gulley's Ghastly Project! If you go into the city tonight you're in for a scary surprise! For every Ghastly that ever there was Will gather there for certain because... Tonight's the night the Ghastlies are having their GALA! What's that you say?? It's BYOB? I need a wine carrier that's made just for me? I've got it! I've found it!   It screams, " LOOK and SEE !" It's chic and carries the best Chardonnay, There's even more room for Merlot and Cabernet! Sparkly with pockets and secure compartments. And think of all the marvelous compliments! There's room for a cheese board, knife, and bread, Oh what a marvelous, delicious spread! Check out the pockets for napkins and corkscrew. How about the backside? It's cute and chic, too. It's simply sublime, and I'll look divine! And... now, I'm done with this silly rhyme!!!      Well... I can hardly wait for the next BYOB party at my golfing ...
Read more
Image
 I don't have my beautiful sewing studio anymore. We decided to get out from under the mortgage. That means we sold the house including my awesome sewing room above the garage! Bummer! But we're going to Italy in the Fall for a month.... not a bade trade off at all. Italy always inspires new quilts. So we got creative with space. This house is 1400 sq' compared to the 2800' we sold. There are two bedrooms. That's it! The "guest bedroom" is my new sewing room. DH converted the closet into a lighted sewing center with my thread racks on the back closet wall. Not too bad. From now on I'll make smaller art quilts :-)  But, what to do about a bed in the center of the room???? DH to the rescue again. He built a Murphy Bed from a kit and directions off the web. His next project is a large work table that will fold up and go under the lowered bed when company comes. The picture below is of the Murphy Bed. We've already had several overnight guest...
Read more

April Showers Mug Rug Blog Hop

Image
Welcome! So happy you could stop by to visit on this beautiful spring day. Erin Davis  and Madamme Samm  have done a fabulous job of scheduling and coordinating this event...  To them I send ~   A Grand Thank You! My mug rug is a bit on the large size and does not have a thing to do with rain, showers or April. In fact, I should have saved it for next month's bird blog hop. But it is the one and only mug rug I've ever made, and I just love it.  (Oddly enough, so does my DH) It all started with this litte table located in our cozy reading corner of the kitchen.    It's functional because it holds magazines and has a lamp.  However, the top is not real wood! Tacky!  And, our kitchen is pretty nice... We love its open style and views.  Enjoying coffee there in the morning is quite nice. I wanted a nicer looking table. That little table was just screaming... MUG RUG! We have a bird fee...
Read more