"SILENT FAREWELL"

17 1/2" X 30"

Available for sale in my Etsy Shoppe ( See link in sidebar.)

I feel so remiss in not sharing the journey of this quilt as I went along with it with you.  It just seemed there was not time these last few weeks to work on it and still have time to post here with the process so you can go to the journey down below .

Here are the detail shots.  I enjoyed this piece as barns are near and dear to my heart.  i love the warmth of the red in the coolness of the winter snow too.  I also love how the shed shows many layers of repair in the owners attempt to keep it functional.

I hope you enjoy it too.

 

The Journey

ADDITIONS

Progress is being made on the winter farm scene.  As long as I see that I do not panic about not finding as much time as I would like to, to move along on this new piece.  I am also happy with how it is coming together and that is always a good thing!

Today I began construction of some Canadian Geese.  I love the Canadian and this scene is the perfect background for them and adds movement to the piece.  I love that transformation.

NOW THE POND

I made the pond and added it and the grasses , rocks and shadows to this piece.  They are fused on but not yet quilted.  I am not a fan of "cheater" fabric but do like to use it when making grasses that are too far away to make them out of individual pieces.  They are great to use as a guide to make it all look natural and once it is quilted you will hardly be able to tell I used it.

I am hoping to quilt this section this week so stay tuned to see how it works out.

"MUSCOVY"

 "MUSCOVY"

20 1/2" X 31

Interpretation from photograph taken by Natalie Rowe

Pieced

Rawedged fused applique

Machine quilted

SOLD to a Private Collector

I hope all of you enjoyed this journey with me.  It was an unexpected journey  as today when I finished this piece the owner of this farm reported that she took the light colored lab, Sophie into the vets for a check up because she was limping.  Turned out to be cancer and she had to be put to sleep.  Such a beautiful dog gone too soon.

I am so sad, yet happy that I added these two dogs to this piece.  Now Sophie will live on the farm where she was so happy with her buddy Tristan.

Grasses & A Couple of Labs

 Productive weekend due to rain rain rain.  2 inches last night...2 more tonight...flood warnings out...but we are high so no worries for us.   Then it changes to SNOW!  It better melt right away because tulips and daffodils are up now and grass is slightly on the green side.

So worked on the grass beyond the barn ...then the cultivated field...adding some lumpy dirt.  Next came the chopped grain stalks left due to flooded field.

In this process I thought this scene called for the two dogs who live here.  They are both Labs, Sophie and Tristan.   Although not in the original plan...you must admit they have added a great feel and a bit of charm to this piece.

Barn & Springtime

 I must admit I have spent a lot of time outside yesterday and will again today.  We are having temps in the 50's but it is not going to last.   Have to get outside with dogs and walk and clean up and just breathe in that fresh air.   Did spend a little time in my studio last night though and made this barn and fused it on.

 I will quilt it next...hopefully later today or tonight.

Ozzie (on left) and Barley are loving being on grass again and not having frozen paws.
It was a very hard winter for them this year.

Beginning The Construction

 I finished quilting the entire background so today I began the beginnings of all the details starting with what is the furthest in the distance which in this case is a line of leafless trees or large shrubs and a line of evergreens.    The evergreens will have a birch tree with yellow leaves on it in front of them so I do not worry about making them perfect as much of them will be hidden.

Here is how it looks in its full view.

Then I sketched  the ducks on tissue.  For those who are new to my blog, I do that so I can lay the sketch on both the quilt background to be sure of proportion and placement and also I use it as a guide when constructing the object on my teflon sheet .

I always make my building some what perfectly in the sketch but when I construct it out of fabric I free cut it so it is just a bit off making it not only look more real but to add some movement and interest to the structure.

Here they both are pinned on the background and I am happy with the size of them as well  as how nicely they fit the space.  The ducks will be moved apart a big but you can still see they will work out well in the foreground, giving the piece the depth it needs.

So the part I enjoy the most is beginning...stay tuned for changes to keep coming each day.  Well hopefully each day....it is the weekend so may get distracted with a few other things.

Now To Quilt

Okay, I can honestly say, tractors are no fun to make.  Much of the detail will be in the quilting….the geese, the horses, the tractor plus some grasses are still to come.

Tree Addition

Work continues on the Fog piece adding to the foreground with one very large tree.  You can see here that one side (right) is quilted with small branches while the left side is not done yet.  Tomorrow is my mother's Christmas so not much will happen on this piece for a few days.  Stay tuned...more to come.

Fog

Well here is the secret I have been working on….FOG!  This piece is totally experimental so if it works out I will be very happy and if it does not I will have learned a lot.  So far….I am very happy.  More to add but you can sort of understand the journey with this one now.

So how did I do this?   I bet you can guess…..it is layers of tulle.  One complete layer first ….then strips added to make it more dense towards the center until it was at the level I wanted.  Then another complete layer on top .  Lots of pins and quilting over it all.  Not sure this has been done before by anyone else, but I am unaware of it if it has.

Nice to be back in the studio fairly full time again.