Free Motion Landscape - In the Fen Country

Finished within a week!  My first 12 x 12 quilt, which I have delivered today to Midsomer Quilting for their forthcoming exhibition.  

When I was at the shop some time ago and heard that the theme for the exhibition was music, I quailed; then it was suggested that I could start with the title of a piece of music and work from there.

A couple of weeks ago I did some serious thinking about choosing the music.  I knew I wanted to do a free motion landscape, and it would have to be an English landscape for the simple reason that I am totally familiar with the colours and the skies.  Therefore it had to be a piece by an English composer, and Vaughan Williams was top of my list.  Then I had to decide on which of his works to illustrate, and make sure the landscape was of the right part of the country.

In the end, I headed approximately 200 miles North East.  First of all I was thinking of the Norfolk Rhapsody.  This would mean a flat landscape (totally alien to me, I'm used to hills), which would need plenty of emphasis on the sky.  After bouncing around Youtube for ideas, I settled upon In the Fen Country.

This video was an absolute Godsend.  Not only did it give me the music, but a whole series of landscapes too - all very flat and wet.

The starting point was the horizon, with the church nestling in the trees.  If you watch the music video you should spot the picture that it is based on.

For the water in the foreground I changed the thread every now and again to give the shaded effect. All the threads are Gutermann Sulky Cotton 30 in variegated colours, and I used five or six different shades.

For the water in the reed bed I incorporated some green and brown tones.

To add interest in the sky there are hand stitched birds.  The three birds soaring high up look like buzzards - we often see them here, but I am not sure how common they are in East Anglia.  The flying geese just had to figure somewhere, and they fitted nicely into the space beneath the lower cloud.

For a day and a half it hung on the wall in the space usually occupied by the Flooded Fields landscape, above the 1949 Singer 15K hand machine that I used for putting on the binding.

I shall not see it again until the exhibition at Midsomer Quilting....

At the end of the exhibition it will go to a new owner after the auction in aid of Dorothy House.

Linking up with Nina Marie's blog Creations - Quilts, Art... Whatever for Off The Wall Friday
and Janet's blog Simply Pieced for TGIFF
and Amanda Jean's blog Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday
and Connie's blog Freemotion by the River for Linky Tuesday