Not my best work…

I see that I made a few mistakes. To begin with, I knew the green I used for background was too thin, but I didn’t heed my warning. The end result is a few wrinkles that will stay there. Oh well.

covered bridge

I chose a different photo of the same bridge in Ionia, Michigan. Lots of green, much better than trying to create fall leaves in fabric. This time, I made sure to work background-to-foreground, it works out much better that way. First I notice that the top 2/3 is green, except for a peek of the sky. When I added the fabric for that, I placed it behind the green and edged the green with satin stitch so that kept the perspective of green trees ahead of the blue sky.

Below all the green, to the left is the concrete foundation and the river. To the right is the green grass and rocks. I added those to the background portion, lining up where I wanted the bridge. The fabric I used for the river is just the concrete foundation fabric, but showing the underside. After adding the bridge, the final detail was the guardrail.

I know it isn’t great or beautiful, and the background is very plain, but it’ll have a place in my quilt.

In case you wondered, I’ll be doing my own quilting but I don’t have a quilting machine. I’ll quilt as I go, which is a process of making each block as a quilt, with batting and backing. Then I will sew them together in a column, and eventually sew the columns together.

The next block I plan to make is a small stone church in Clinton County, Michigan. It is simple, and I can use the stone fabric again.

Shepardsville United Methodist Church

Stalled

I wanted to keep up the pace I set for myself, but something didn’t work as I thought it would, and that killed the momentum. Let me show you.

Fallasburg covered bridge

The photo is of the Fallasburg Park covered bridge in Lowell, Michigan. I have been across this bridge, and also the other that I will include in the quilt. I loved the autumn colors on the trees, and hoped to recreate them well.

I began as I usually do, deciding the background. I used plain white cotton for the center part that will be completely covered, and a green for the grass, blue for the sky.

I should have done the trees next, but I was excited to work the bridge.

I used a spotted gray for the cement support of the bridge, and turned it wrong-side-out for the river. I added the lovely rocks print. The grass will be all the same green, rather than working in different colors. I used a medium gray and darker gray for the facing side of the bridge. I stitched details, then chose the wood for the entrance of the bridge.

I stitched in the guard rail in gray. At this point I started looking at fall leaf colors. My idea was to take a basic color fabric, but add stitching to give it a blended look. This is the point at which I no longer liked my block.

So, I’ll be replacing it. I chose a different photo with green leaves on the trees.

Meanwhile, I found that my purse was too small so I started making another. I used two orphan blocks from this quilt. I’m also juggling Christmas shopping and wrapping, a flurry of medical appointments, and caregiving. It’s a lot. I get to my happy place (in front of a sewing machine) when I can, but I can’t always get there when I want. I need to sewing on binding around the edges of the (lined) purse, and make the straps.