Finished by Friday

Redoute' Cherries, the  charm of botanical prints.

I have always been thrilled when I come across these life-like portraits. The artists skill is beyond beautiful. As quilters and fabric artists, the sewist creates in a way that rather mimics this style. Enter my little Pear Tree Wool Applique pillow. Certainly not so grand but a good start on wool applique.

Done. I added a slim border, after seaming about 1 1/2 inches of an over-dyed mustard colored wool. I debated the backing over and over. I ended up in a compromise. The back is a quilting cotton rather than wool. The large piece I intended to use has been diverted to another project. It was just too nice to be a backing that will not be seen.

The mustard colored border is from the same piece as the 'rock' on the bottom of the tree. Also not a lot of it left so a thin border was all that made it to the finished product.

The backing. I decided to apply the backing a little differently. In one piece I stitched all around all four edges of the pillow right sides together. I wanted to be sure that the corners and all edges were the same line of stitching without a turning flange. I then cut the backing up the middle, turned the piece, poked  out corners and stuffed. I steamed all the seams flat, I love wool for that quality,  then did a tight overcast of the center back opening seam. Again, not seen, purely functional for a decorative pillow.

The  appliques steamed nicely while retaining their dimensional qualities.

 

Some knots on the little leaves add some dimension.

 Well that is all for this Friday in the finish lane. I have been working on some garden recipes,

This quiche has had a couple trial runs, I will post the recipe on Kitchen Chronicles over the week-end. I had another field trip this week and, a little on that later.

 

 

 

Enjoy this beautiful summer week-end. I am starting to feel a wee bit melancholy as July winds down. I am a warm weather girl, the clock is ticking. On the patio this week-end, a grilled dinner, some opera blaring in  the background, Carmen, I think,  and many vegetables to cook.