Happy New Year - Last 2 Trees for 2006 are complete!!

I did it - I finished the binding and label on my last journal quilt for 2006 last night around 10pm - we had my husbands niece and nephew here so photography and posting was out of the question until this morning...

November Journal Quilt - A Thread Painted Tree
Completed: Dec 31, 2006
Class with Nancy Prince: Nov 10, 2006
Time to Complete – approximately 10 hrs

Notes:
Trees find me everywhere – and this month I was lucky enough to participate in a thread painting class with Nancy Prince – Her thread painted landscape class just happened to be a tree. The choice was spring or fall for the background and being as I took the class in November – I choose the fall tree.

Techniques:
As this was a class project – I really did not do any experimenting as I have done on previous Journals – I tried to learn from the expert and learn I did… The trunk of the tree is multiple layers of brown threads stitched in straight and free motion zig zag – the trunk looks shiny because I don’t think I got all the water soluble stabilizer out even though I soaked the piece repeatedly. The leaves are scribble quilted in various fall shades to depict a tree in its prime of fall color. My technique is heavy as the tree looks like it is still full of leaves rather than starting to loose them as a tree should by November. I wish though I would have quilted the tree and then added the border as Nancy does on her pieces- then it would look more like a frame or a window and the outcome would have been better. This piece is also quilted w batting rather than using heavy stabilizer for the sandwich – I like the effect on this. I also tried a skinny binding technique featured in the recent edition of American Quilter Magazine – a nice effect I think.

December Journal Quilt - A Traditional Christmas Tree
Completed: Dec 25th - 2006
Time to Complete – approximately 5 hrs

Notes:
When this journey started – I thought all along that I would do some traditional tree quilt blocks in my journals if I could not find good ideas – but inspiration was abundant and each month something else called me to replicate it in fabric. So as the calendar turned to December last weekend I found myself in the sewing room – turning the pages on my quilt block a day calendar and when I landed on December 3rd – the Christmas Tree block appeared – and I knew this would be my last journal quilt of the year.

Techniques:
This month the technique is somewhat different – as it is a traditional block – I started with an enlargement of the calendar page that I thought would fill an 8 ½ x 11 space nicely. I thought piecing all those tiny HST would make me crazy so I cut them and fused them instead to a light weight interfacing background. To do this I layered the copy of the tree under the interfacing and pressed the cut pieces on top with my mini iron. The lesson on this piece is cutting accurately and piecing pieces of cut fabric into the space for a nice effect. The quilting is simple stippling all over in matching thread – this time I used Isocord for the quilting which I have not done before –but the outcome is nice. Three other notable differences: the use of batting again – this just said mini quilt to me, I practiced the skinny binding again, and I did this piece completely on my Bernina 125 vs. my 180 which was used for the majority of the other journals – both performed equally well.

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In reflection - this has been a wonderful challenge for me this year - I did however find that as much as I enjoyed my subject and how these little trees seemed to find me everywhere - I did grow tired of it towards the end - the subject - not journal quilts. When I look back at my little journal quilts I am proud of them - I started with no expectations and see a lot of progress as the year progressed. Some I like more than others - but I like them all - which is good considering some I did not like when I completed. I see that my creative side has opened up and that I have become better at thread painting - I also tried to incorporate some new techniques that I will use in future projects less hesitantly now. I will be making at least one monthly again n 2007 and have decided my theme will be more technique driven than subject driven. I shared my little beauties monthly with group of sewers at one of the local Bernina Shops and they have asked me to teach a monthly class on journals this year - I am honored, but not sure I am really qualified or worthy and a little scared - but will overcome and do my best to share this with others

Here is a photo of all of my Tree Line from 2006 - all of my little beauties lined up in a row (or 2 on my wall in my sewing room) You can also see them all in my 2006 Journal Quilt folder on Webshots