An Unexpected Bloom

The tree is coming along.  All the leaves are sewn on and the background cut it to size.  I am thinking about how to quilt it and trying out bindings.  I had a binding fabric all picked out until I discovered it's a stretch fabric.  I was so surprised!  This was some of the beautiful fabric my mother gave me.  Turns out they both are stretch, even though they initially felt like a weave.  I'm hesitant to use it, since I don't know how it will wear.  So I'm playing with other fabrics for the edge.

I picked a dark grey (upper right), an interesting blue-green-grey mosaic (middle right) and a medium dark blue (left).  The mosaic has a tight repeating pattern, which you can't really see in this photo, in part because I folded it on the diagonal in an effort to make it not stand out so much.  I don't like it close up, but when I step away (or in this photo), it's my favorite of the three.  Looks better from a distance.

The 3D leaf idea from my last post stuck in my head.  The tree  has one falling leaf - the new plan is to tack on the leaf after I finish the quilting.  The leaf itself is really cool looking and it's surprisingly poseable.  I'm guessing all of the individual threads allow it to hold it's shape.

The whole reason for making this tree was to use up the last of my glitter thread fabric.  The more the tree progressed, the less these glittery leaves fit into it.  I still had five leaves with no place to go.  Then I noticed they fit together quite nicely.  And so I found myself sidetracked from the projects I'm supposed to be working on to make this little piece.  One thing I've learned with quilting - when inspiration hits, you roll with it.

So much fun!  I was particularly pleased when I found a shiny blue and purple button to use as the center of the flower.  I whipped together the whole thing over the weekend.  I love when a project drives itself; this was one I couldn't put down.  I love the quilting.  It was trickier than anticipated because the foot kept getting caught in the petals (the glitter threads are loosely tacked down).  The piece has corner pockets on all four corners, so this can be hung in any direction.  It could even be hung on point, which looks pretty neat, too.  Usually I have an opinion of which way is up, but I keep changing my mind with this one.

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