Fall Colors and Play

Devil's Lake State Park - Wisconsin

 This week finds me packing. *Insert maniacal laughter*

Why you may ask am I laughing? Because I'm really not doing all that much packing. I wanted to play with some fat quarters so instead of doing what I should be doing - which isn't all that fun at times - I'm doing what I need to do when I'm stressed. Goofing around with fabric can be a real stress reliever.

Last week hubby and I went to hike around Devil's Lake. Peak color - yay! I took a bunch of photos of the foliage and these are the best. 

Fall is my favorite season - I think I wrote that out in a blog from last fall... and I'll probably write it out next fall too.

Last week someone commented on one of my blogs and mentioned that they make journal quilts.  That stuck with me because way too often I make complex quilts instead of just playing in a journal quilt format. Soooo, I got out 6 fat quarters from my store and decided to play.   

Foreground ferns and rocks, a path print and two busy bright colorful fall foliage prints.

 I love that dark red background print and decided I'd try to make it the background for a path into the forest.  I began by cutting out a few birch trees and then started to make a collage of sorts by layering clumps of ferns with the rocks. 

The beginning....

 I added more foliage and a path. 

Path and foreground rocks and ferns

 The path doesn't look quite right does it?  I cut out some longish oval shapes and layered them out to add more horizontal texture. 

New and Improved path

 The flash on my camera decides when to go off or not so some of these pics are slightly lighter and more gold than others. 

Adding tree foliage

 So far I like the foreground. The jury is out regarding the tree foliage. I think I need to make branches out of an old scrap of black fabric. One thing is certain, I'll be cutting out leaves for a while! 

End of yesterday's work... 

And here is where I have to sign off.  It looks strange right now, but I can see the end product in my mind. Once I add more branches and more foliage and layer that whole business I think it will be a nice little landscape. Plus, I'll be taking my trusty fabric dye markers and shading those trees! (And highlighting the tops of the dark branches..)

All in all, this little quickie has taken 2-3? hours so far and has been fun.

Now I REALLY must finish the laundry so I can pack. Hubby and I fly out to glorious Bonaire early tomorrow morning with my oldest son and his fiancé . Bonaire is a tiny island off the coast of Aruba. The whole island coast is an international marine preserve because the coral reefs are right off the beaches. You pull your pick up truck over to the side of the road, go down to the water and navigate a safe way in - that is the tricky bit.  We've been there before and are so excited to introduce snorkeling and coral reefs to a couple of our children.

I'll be back in a week. My quilt top is just sitting out on my cutting table and hopefully Ellie Cat won't destroy it while I'm gone!

Happy Quilting Adventures everyone.