Apples October Journal Quilt

This is my little journal quilt for October - apples. The challenge is to use buttons for the next 4 pieces. I've been picking the apples from my Sunset apple tree and thought the apple pips and core looked a bit like a button. The background is a rustic open weave linen and I embellished apple shapes with little pieces of wool, adding them like watercolour. The leaf shapes were appliqued and layered with muslin which was also blattered with the embellisher to distress it a bit and then machine stitched to the background. I added handstitching and then white laundry buttons. They looked a bit stark so I painted them with some dilute Inktense colour.
I really enjoyed getting the embellisher out and needle felting the background, the effect can be quite subtle.

Man Woman August Journal Quilt

This is my August Journal Quilt entitled "Man Woman". It is the third of the quilts which specified text. I have been suffering from empty nest syndrome. It always happens at this time of the year. The youngest (now 21 ) drew this little picture many years ago and I have had it pinned on my wall. The funny expressions always make me smile. I used this as an opportunity to get to grips with a new printer after my old Epson started dumping ink on the surface of my fabric. I defined the pencil marks and then added some more colour to the original drawing then I added a half triangle border to the design together with some repeating figures which I think must have been Ralph. There was a tiny little figure on a distant planet and I'm wondering if that was his brother! The little wholecloth was printed on bubble jet set treated recycled cotton sheeting and then machine stitched and I also put some little french knots where there were pencil dots on the original. It still makes me laugh.
The exhibition in The Guild in Bristol, Cloth, Paper, Stitch, has now finished. Thank you to my friends who supported me and the people who visited and bought my work and cards. There was a lot of interest in the lichen pieces again and I think I shall make another large piece soon.

Fragmentation

Appliqued, drawn and stitched lichen fragments.