After my trip down south, I’ve been looking forward to getting back to my tree quilt, with the goal now being to have all the landscape applique positioned and pressed into place.
It’s all about building up those layers - particularly the trees. That means plenty of fusible webbing, lots of careful cutting, and quite a bit of stepping back (or at least trying to!) to see how it’s all coming together.
Here’s a look at the progress so far: At this stage, I was still refining the trunks - making small adjustments to their shapes and spacing to get the structure right before adding more layers.
I fused three green fabrics, then began with the darkest. Cutting soft, curving shapes, I layered them behind, in front of, and around the trunks to start creating depth.
As I worked, I kept thinking about where the sun would be positioned. That meant swapping out some of the dense pieces for lighter, more open shapes in that area to let the light “breathe.”
Next came the medium green, adding another layer of richness and helping to transition between the darker and lighter areas.
I could see straight away that I’d need more of the medium greens, but I started auditioning the lighter fabric anyway - just to get a feel for how much would be needed. I also added a hint of branching to break up the space.
At this point, the trees were starting to feel a little dense in particular on the left, so I paused to reassess. I added more medium and light greens, introduced a brighter green for contrast, and fused fabric for the sun. Opening up some areas made a big difference to the overall balance.
One of the trickiest parts of working like this is getting enough distance to really see the piece. My design wall is flat, and I can’t easily lift the work without everything shifting out of place. So my solution? Take a photo. It gives me that bit of distance I need - and often reveals exactly what needs adjusting.
Looking at it this way, I could immediately spot a few areas to tweak - especially near the edges. Nothing major, just shifting some of the greens from one side to the other and trimming back where I needed to keep everything aligned with the trunks.
I’m nearly there now. Just one or two more adjustments and it will be ready to press in place. And then... finally... the stitching can begin, I can’t wait!
