Bucketing down

It is WET! I am not really complaining as it is so good for the trees and shrubs just before winter. I am whining just a little though as it is soooo gloomy . Makes my head hurt! I like light, especially when I am working. I am working today on the background for one of the little Plane Tree Bark pictures I took a few weeks ago. The substrate is a piece of pale sort of celery green Dupioni upholstery silk. Great coour and I am over stitching it with a variegated green , some very pale grey green and some interesting jadey teal thread made by Molnlycke. Can't get Molnlycke any more , not here anyway. I always liked it and my new machine likes it too. It is a lovely colour and very even thread.

Now I am at the stage of choosing from TONNES of fabric, the very right colours to make the various layers of this peeling bark. I am not really hung up on exactness here but would like to convey the feeling of thin , peeling layers and that fabulous top layer of biggish  scales of deep purply blue more mature bark. I posted the picture earlier, but in case you missed it, here it is again. Is this not wonderful??

  The colours look a bit faded here where I am typing. Maybe they will be better on the post. well, wish me luck! I am using a LOT of thread : )

Back to the Smoke tree leaves

Well, I have the little piece trimmed and bordered- double bordered, actually. I put a very narrow bright turquoise border strip around and then a piece of batik in colours similar to the background. I like the colours but feel that the outer border is a bit wide so it shall get narrowed down a little bit.

I want to quilt this piece lightly as the decorative stitching is intense and I want that colour and texture to show nicely. I will use the border so I can continue the lines of the leaves as if they were complete into the border instead of leaving them chopped off as they are now. Does this make sense? It does to me , but I am its Mummy! I have a delicious variegated Superior thread for the quilting: )