Free Motion Mavericks - Week 8 - Black Bryony

This is as far as I got today.  Treadling in a temperature of 80 degrees, wearing fetching pink gloves, I ended up absolutely blinking baking, so I was quite glad that the bobbin thread ran out - the last of the colour I needed.  It was time for a tea break anyway.

The design is based on black bryony.  The inspiration came a couple of days ago when I was hacking brambles out of the hedge and I pulled out a yard of black bryony that had been tangled up in the branches.  The berries turn bright red in the autumn, but at the moment they are bright green. In real life the berries are clustered around the main stem, looking like necklaces festooned in the hedgerow, but I have had to take a botanical liberty and put them on sprigs so I can fill the space.  

The leaves are heart shaped and a beautiful deep glossy green.

It is a shame I didn't have my camera with me when I was hacking about in the hedge, but it's nice putting links to a couple of blogs with photos of black bryony at different times of the year. 

When I was taking these photos today I remembered that I keep meaning to devise a design based on the leaves and flowers on the faceplate of the machine.

Many thanks to Jessim, Vicki, Gina, Hilary, Gwyned, Kathi and Cynthia who all linked up last week, showing a great variety of projects.

So here goes for week 8...

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post and/or grab the linky button for your blog's sidebar.
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3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for four days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Monday.

So far bloggers from USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany and Holland have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week!

Linking up with Kelly's blog My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday
and Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday