The class with Laura Rosenspan was wonderful. She is an amazing teacher. Before we went to the class, we had to make a landscape.

My landscape was made from scraps from my stash.

During the class, Laura suggested that I make trunks and branches on the trees that are on the hillside. She told me to use red thread. That was a great beginning.

Trees partially stitched

Finished trees

The sky and water were stitched in wavy swirls. A large tree was added on the side. It was fussy cut from a tree fabric. The leaves were cut from different green fused fabric. Later, the veins were stitched to hold the leaves in case the fusing failed. With the edges loose, the tree was more realistic.

In class, we wet fabric and scrunched it.

The fabric didn’t dry in time, so I added it to the piece after the class. At first, I made a beach on the further shore with a large piece of the scrunched fabric. It was overwhelming. Then, I cut it up and made three rocks, two on the further shore and one on the near shore.

The green scrunched fabric was placed on the near shore. All the scrunched fabric was hand sewn down. Pieces were cut off and the fabric was rearranged as it was sewn down.

There was something missing. I googled landscapes and came across a YouTube from an artist who was explaining how he painted a picture. He said that if you have water, you must have a reflection. That was what was missing. I thread painted a reflection with the color and shape of the land above the water. It was too bright, so I thread painted over the reflection with green thread. That color toned it down.

The top of the piece was finished. The bottom was a challenge. The green grass was large. My daughter had texted a picture that she had taken on her morning walk.

This is what I needed. The large grass portion could be divided with a path.

To further divide the bottom section, I machine embroidered red flowers across the piece. Then, I thread painted thick green grass over the flowers to make them more subtle.

The grass in the fabric was thread painted using the fabric pattern.

The bushes that I originally cut were discarded and replaced with other bushes. I had sewn them down using green thread. There was something missing. They looked like a blob of green. Then, I remembered Laura’s instruction on the trees. A little red thread made the bushes come to life.

The piece is finished.

Did you notice the owl in the tree? Every landscape has to have a critter.

This project was fun to make. There was no advance planning. Everything was added as I saw it at the time. It was serendipity. I usually name all my pieces and that name seems right. I will call it Serendipity.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

There are days when I think that I haven’t accomplished much. I think that the problem is that I plan far too much for each day and some things just don’t get done. I love to stop for telephone calls and my door is always open to unexpected visitors. There is progress with the community quilts. I took four quilts to the guild meeting last week and I have three more finished, and one ready to bind. It seems as if I finish one a week.

The doll clothes are finished for the craft fair.

I may make one more dress. I’ve been thinking about a fancy wedding dress. I might just make it before the fair.

One hippo is finished. I have two more finished and ready to stuff.

Last week, I went to a class taught by Laura Rosenspan. Her work is beautiful.

The class was amazing. I learned many new techniques for thread painting. We prepared a landscape before the class.

I’ve been working on the project a little at a time. After I sew for a while, I leave it on the dining room table. While walking by, I audition the next part. In my next blog, I will tell you all about my journey. I’m pleased with what has been done so far. Laura’s tips and tricks have been great.

I’ve been asked to teach two women how to piece and quilt by hand. They have never quilted before. The class will be given on their coffee breaks once a week. This means 15 minutes of teaching at a time. I’m not sure how that is going to work. This will be a new way of teaching for me. A class has usually been an all-day affair. I’ve never taught hand piecing. The outline has been made and changed several times. A dictionary of quilting terms has been prepared and I have a week to plan the first lesson. I’ve always wanted to teach a class called Four Pins and a Needle. It’s a class that uses none of the expensive gadgets that quilters think they have to have in order to quilt. The pins and needles are the only supplies except fabric (scraps) and thread. Maybe a ruler, pencil, and scissors. Things that one has on hand anyway. That is the way that I started quilting at the beginning. It will be fun.

Have a great day and happy quilting.