Grains and countryside

Since February I have a wall-hanging quilt in mind, but it took until now to become real. The idea started, when I offered this quilt to my brother as a birthday present. He declined, but after his wife saw the quilt they both said, they would love to have something like that, but the preferred color would be light green. In my head "light green" connected automatically with a countryside and I began thinking and drawing and thinking some more and drawing some more and making the first quilting exercises for trying out the patterns. Not that I have been concentrating on this project, but it had been in the back of my mind a long time. 

With the visit of my brother and wife shortly ahead I started finally beginning of last week with the quilting. This came out:

(click on the photo to see it larger)

I have to say, that it is very hard to get this right on a photo. I tried for two days now and the real thing is still a bit different. The different light green shades of the quilting thread are changing with the light and the angle of view. 

Try to see better on detail-photos:

The background is very light a bit yellow-greenish and the grains and the grass in the foreground are slightly darker in three different greens. 

Very early I decided for the pattern of the grains and I love how light and fragile they appear. I am sure someone else has already quilted grains like that, but I can't remember seeing any.

The background composes from several different motifs, some of them coming from Christina Cameli whose blog "a few scraps" is very inspiring for my quilting (only I often get lost in the patterns and don't find a way out - I have to practice some more).

The sky is invented from her "planks design" and there is a forest or a zone with shrubs that is her "bear claw pattern". You should check out her quilting tutorials on video, just follow the links.

The other quilting elements are more or less common.

I can't tell you how happy I am with the finished quilt. Of course there are some things to make different next time, but all in all this is what I had in mind and that is very rare. 

And then with the last stitches on the tendrils below the grass, I had second thoughts, about what my brother was expecting. He had only seen this quilt with the matches I quilted in january, but where everybody sees trees instead of flames. Maybe he is expecting the same "trees", but only in green? Panic! I had to start a second one ...

- to be continued - 

A demain, avec images du deuxieme quilt,

Jane