Building And Adding Trees

Still working on that fall in New England quilt. I have been building and adding trees, and other foliage. I started with some small trees, ironing the trunks to parchment paper.

Using pinking shears, I cut leaves, and added them to the trunks, using several shades of fabric.

These were then peeled off the parchment, and ironed on to the quilt. You can see that I have also added grasses and flowers using my stamps and various fabric paints.

More foliage was added on the other side of the road. The purple is supposed to represent asters, a flower I look forward to every fall.

More small trees were added across the river, using this same technique.

Then I began to add large trees in the foreground. I built these directly on the quilt, a choice I would soon regret.

These are the large trees finished. I am not happy with them at all. I wanted the feeling of being on the road with the trees looming up beside the driver, and this does not come across. I also wanted the foliage to be much more lacy, showing more of the hills behind them. No matter how many times I peeled up the fusible and recut, and rearranged, I could not make the trees do this. They wanted to be thick. Maybe if I had gone with more branches and fewer leaves, the lacy effect would have been achieved. Finally, I think the pinking shears give the leaves too much of a kitschy look.

At this point, having procrastinated before starting, I am pretty much out of time for any more adjustments, and I need to step back, and finish this as is. I'm sure that someone else, not having my expectations, will enjoy this piece. And I have learned a lot that I can incorporate into future landscapes.    

Right now I am waiting for a little touch-up paint to dry. Then I will start stitching the parts that need to be sewn before the quilt is layered. This part should be fun. I love playing with threads!