Tree and Leaf Project

As this year is winding down, I was trying to think of some new creative ideas for this blog. I have managed to keep up with my 10" X10" weekly journal quilt. It has been such a great experience. I have learned so many new techniques and have found it so much fun to fill my spare time creating. While reading Studios Magazine, I saw a great studio by Annabel Wrigley. Her business Little Pincushion is so awesome. Her studio has a tree on the wall that has hooks to hold bags and other items. I loved that tree. I decided to make a tree for a bare wall in my studio. I thought that I could construct a tree out of foam core. The 2012 blog will be called Leave me to my quilting! Each week I will construct a fabric leaf. The leaf idea came from Jennifer Solon who is featured in the Quilting Arts Gift Magazine. She collages fabric scraps into art leaves. At the end of 2012 I should have 52 decorative and mixed media leaves on this tree. It should be quite a journey.

To make the tree, I took a die cut tree and used an overhead project to trace this tree onto butcher paper that comes on a roll. I then cut the tree out. I used three large pieces of white foam core and traced the tree. I used an exacto knife to cut out the tree. I adhered the pieces together using tape on the backside. I used spray paint to give the tree it's color. I started with brown primer and then used a hammer metal brown to give the tree some dimension. I plan on adding embellishments in addition to the leaves to make a full outdoor scene. The first of which was to make a squirrel hole in the front of the tree. This was done using burlap and black fabric. I am looking so forward to continuing this blog in 2012. There will be small entries with additions to this tree as we head towards 2012. I will continue to finish the last 13 journal quilt entires too. May you enjoy the remainder of 2011 and look forward to an artful 2012.