Kim’s Base

It occured to me that Kim did not get a chance to take or post a photo of her base since it was hot off the sewing machine when she handed it to me at Retreat and that I should post one before I start embellishing! So…here it is:

Friday Check In – Suze

Have been looking at Kim’s base…and thinking about putting dogwood blossoms on the tree..have done several experiments with the blossoms..but the silk ribbon I have on hand seems too wide for proper scale on the tree – I need to get the next size smaller ribbon..and that means a trip to the only store in the area that carries silk ribbons – its near where my parents live..so one of these weekends when they are home too, I will go visit and drop by that store – not that I mind much visitng a quilt shop – LOL…I could order over the internet..but it gives me an excuse go to into the shop…and to see my parents!!

Friday Check In

Just thought I would do my Friday check in. I have not finished my base yet as I have been meeting myself comming and going. I am planning on spending a bit of time this weekend to get more done at least the machine work and then will do more handwork next week.

Remember this round robin is a slower pace so all of you are welcome to take the time you need with this first round…………………I know Dee will need more time for sure…………I think Dee and I are in the same boat right now.

Please just check in and tell us what is up with you and what you are doing or planning on doing and remember that no progress for the week is also fine and if that is the case just say hi if nothing else.

Ami

Sample Picture of the Archway

Tuscan Landscape

Here is that sample Tuscan Landscape I was showing y’all at Retreat….there are more at http://muralsandfaux.blogspot.com/2008/06/tuscan-landscape-murals.html

Base done

Well I liked  my drawing better than the actual thing, but here is my base.  I think that once embellished, it will look great.

Under the sea pattern

I kind of designed my pattern on EQ6 today.  At least it will give me a guideline to follow.

Progress On Ami’s Landscape

Here is more progress on my base. I have been experimenting with applique for the montains and the hills. Since I love needleturn applique that is what I chose to do. I have made templates for each shape and beginning from the sky forward I am adding each fabric. The one photo just shows the mountains in the background. I have cut out the foreground hills and pinned them in place. The one in the right will be sewn on first, then the middle and last the one on the left. Once these are in place I will add the house in the background. The house and the barn will both be paper pieced and then these sections will be appliqued in place. When the house is attached the green forground will be machine sewn on as one big strip, the barn will then be put into place. The road in the foreground will be put in place last. I will applique the road then then applique on the two ruts in the road. Once that is all done I will stitch around the piece with a large basting stitch to keep all the slippery fabics stable and also to define the edges of the composition.

You might be wonering about the applique. I am making sure that the needle goes thru all the way to the back of the muslin to ensure that the piece is stable. A little at a time this piece is slowly taking shape.

Ocean theme?

What do you guys think about an ocean theme?  Would something like http://www.vintagevogue.com/html/rita_ellison-goff.html be too abstract?

Cypress Trees

I think I found the right fiber for the cypress trees ..it’s a wool embroidery thread that after you stitch, you brush with a piece of velcro or a small stiff brush (I used an emery board…) and it fuzzes up and looks fluffy…will bring samples to Retreat so you can see..and will include thread with the base.

Photos of Ami’s plan for her base

Here you can see what I did.  In the first photo on the right are all three pages. The first is the photo printed off my computer to the scanner, then the sketch I made by tracing the things I wanted. I just used my high tech lightbox………….the window. I traced the elements I wanted; the barn, house, road, fence and the tree line with the basic area the foileage of the trees covered. I changed the road from pavement to appear as a rutted dirt road instead. Then I added some mountains and hill to the background instead of the rock wall. The photo on the left is what I ended up with after copying the first drawing on the scanner and blowing it up 125% which came out to a perfect 11×14 size. This is now the drawing I will work from to create my scene. I will work from the top down. The sky will go on first, the the mountains will be appliqued on, then the hills over the mountains, the the house, once those are in place I will machine sew the ground as one piece and last applique the barn and road on. The other elemets will all be added by all of you. I will continue to post in progress photos so you can see how it goes together.