Well!

...it is finished, except for the binding and the hanger. I THINK I am happy- mostly, at least. I had to crop so you would not see the mess in the background but it IS properly square.  I may end up narrowing the border a bit and will bind it with the same fabric as the border - or maybe do a pillowcase turn. I'll see , but it IS done to all intents and purposes.

Spot(s) On!

Sorry about the keystoning but I was more interested in the effect of the little gold spots. I THINK I like them but have not fastened them down yet. There are more to go too so I will make them and set them in place and see what I think over all.

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: )

Possible solution

Well, I MAY have found a solution to my spotty dilemma! I have painted Evolon with Setacolor ultramarine blue and am now using Lumiere gold on top and I THINK I may have a winner. The blue is rich and deep enough and the gold, subtle enough so that it appears it will not be too garish. I need to do more thread painting on my big leaf before I put the spots on so I shall keep cutting and painting and sewing and a picture or two shall follow .

It is a stunning day. I am feeling better and I am off shortly to Dundas to see Anita Zobens for a lot of new, glorious colours of 30 wt Superior thread to continue my Smoke Tree Leaves. Did I ever mention what a colour junkie I am ? This is shaping up to be a good day. Lucky me!!

Smoke Tree Leaves so far

Well, I am beginning to see this come together. There have been bits added since this and there will be more before I do the stitching but here is a start. I love the colours! Fun to do but fiddly!

Wow! I ordered a little starter kit of procion MX dyes YESTERDAY from a Markham company, G&S Dyes and UPS delivered it today to our front door. Not an inexpensive service, but very speedy. I used to use Procion dyes years ago doing batik but when I learned how dangerous they are , I stopped. I shall be mixing them OUTDOORS , covered up and wearing a mask. Should be quite a sight. Anyone for tickets??

Quandary

Here's the problem . I have these glorious Smoke Tree Leaves to quilt and I am still wondering what to do with the fabulous spots in the centres of some of the leaves. There is nothing wrong with the tree. It just makes these lovely little golden, blue edged spots on some of the leaves as the colour changes in the fall. I love them and want to put them into this little quilt...but what to do? WHAT to do - and HOW?

This is blown up a lot so it may look odd but I posted the whole picture a few days ago. I have the majority of the quilt pieced now and am wondering where to go from here. I have lots of scraps left over so maybe I will experiment with paint. My Lumiere paint dry brushes pretty well so maybe a few spots can get dry brushed with a little metallic haze- and then... the spots! I have used some metallic tissue organza already so I wonder if some even more metallic stuff might be in order- two layers, blue underneath, gold on top? It is not realistic at the moment so a bit more stretching of the truth will not hurt I think.

I am still sick and now I seem to be rambling. I guess we shall all stay tuned and watch this space to see where the crazy lady takes this from here. Wish me luck!