Saturday 8 April 2017

Down the Rabbit Hole Progress Report.

Last night I stitched on the last of my leaves on my centre Down The Rabbit Hole.
 I made my leaves using the template and starch method I shared in the previous post and pinned them in place along one side at a time.  I'm not one to use glue on my quilts.
I worked from left to right, top to bottom of each flower.
 Progressing my way across the top.

 Here are the steps I have completed so far, making the centre.
 Adding the bias stems.
 First appliqueing the small centre and then the larger bloom to each stem.
 Placing my rough cut leaves in place to see how the colour balanced. Sarah suggested 51 but I played with the placement and ended up with 54.  I liked the full leafy appearance.
 I also did used a black and white filter to see how it looked without colour to check out the balance.

Then I stitched 54 in place,
 Then I added some more.  In the end I have 81, 30 more than what Sarah suggested but I liked how it looked with the more fully leafy version.
Here are some other flowers to enjoy on the cherry trees in our courtyard on Thursday before we had a windstorm and thunder storm. View from the lobby of the weeping cherry tree.
 In the courtyard looking towards the lobby.
 Towards the Fraser River.  The trees on the right were replaced several years ago the ones on the left are almost 30+ years old.
 Standing in front of the gate looking back at the lobby.
 Love this close up of the blossoms with a hint of blue in the sky.
 Today I took mom for a drive down Gravely Street in East Vancouver.  Last Sunday these were hardly in but.  A few of the blossoms have started to drop.  In a few days the cars will be covered with dropped petals.
 Check out the size of this trunk!
 Looking up the street from the bottom of the hill.
 These trees have been peche, their centre branch cut to encourage them to spread out.
 Love the look of the fragile blossoms against the trunks.
 Another group of young trees close to the Nippon Community Centre in Burnaby.
 Today's view of the garden, remarkably many of the blossom stayed on the tree despite some severe wind gusts and the grounds being saturated with rain.
 Our gardens are getting a  make over and some new soil.
 Very few petals on the grass below the trees.
 Blossoms holding up nicely.
 Very similar to yesterday's view.
 Buds bursting forth.
 Such delicate blossoms.
 Rain soaked daffodils.
 Thankfully the rain had almost stopped as I was taking these photos.
 Delicate small narcissus blooms.
 Covered in raindrops.
 Some large puddles along the brick portion of the quay.
 Check out this curvy stem!
 I think this is a loon hanging onto the top of the deadhead in the river.
 Drenched by the rain but still standing tall.
Off to do some button hole stitching!

6 comments:

WoolenSails said...

I love how it came out, it is a beautiful piece.
The trees looks lovely, hope our plants start blooming soon.

Debbie

The little book of Nessie said...

You are doing well with your project. Those trees look so pretty with all the blossoms. Thanks for sharing. Regards, Nessie

Kyle said...

All those beautiful blossoms both real and done in fabric. The additional leaves adds to the fullness of the center block. It looks fabulous.

KaHolly said...

All the flowers are gorgeous, those quilted, and those blooming! XO

Sharon said...

Wow, I love your Down the Rabbit Hole! What a lot of applique - it looks great. I think the addition of the extra leaves was a good decision. Those little leaves sure do shrink up a lot when they're sewn!

Love all your photos of the blooming trees and flowers! Our trees are all blooming now too. They make my head hurt (allergies - ugh!) but I love seeing them. Ours have held up in the storms so far also. I need to get out and take some pix of my false plum while it is in bloom.

Karen said...

I came over to your blog to see your "Down the Rabbit Hole" piece. Wow! You have done well. And you hve a brighter stash than I do.