Free Motion Mavericks - Week 263 - Holly Tree

The long break from sewing over Christmas and New Year has been valuable thinking time.  I needed to reflect on what sort of project I could immerse myself in over the coming year.  

Much as I enjoyed completing the stitched landscape, I had no pleasure in starting it.  It was the biggest sewing headache I have ever given myself.  Once I was past the halfway point and I could see the scene coming together, then I could breathe a huge sigh of relief and sink myself into the project.  When it came to the last element to complete, the holly tree in the foreground, it just fell into place.  It was the first time I have put a tree in the foreground.  In the past they have been just shapes in the background, bumps in neutral colours to draw the eye to the middle distance or horizon, or a break in rhythm in a hedgerow.  This time the tree was going to make or break the whole picture, and I had to put it in last.  It turned out to be quick, relatively easy, and I was delighted with the result. 

So that's it, trees.  When I am out on my walks I am now scouting for interesting trees in stitchable settings.  There are a few gnarled oaks that immediately spring to mind, and I am already hoping for a colourful autumn. 

Here goes for week 263:-

Many thanks to Gretchen for linking up last time with her beautiful feathered star quilt.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and see more.

If you have no free motion quilting to show, feel free to link up and show any project you like.  Here are the usual rules, but feel free to ignore them.  To keep the original emphasis, however, preference will be given to free motion quilting when featuring projects from the previous week.

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, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post.

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 five days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Tuesday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau, Russia, Ireland and Brazil have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.