From Small Acorns Grow...

I had a bee in my bonnet recently about making a picture of a tree out of applique felt. It came from watching an episode of 'The Great Interior Design Challenge' where I thought I spied a picture of a tree made from fabric in the background on a wall somewhere for about 2 seconds, then it was gone. But it got me thinking. And above us you can see the result. Which now hangs on the wall in our living room. 

When I first started, I wasn't sure whether or not to put the coloured leaves on it, as you can see below, it looked pretty nice without. But a little bare. And I have this other idea where I would like to make some cushion covers with primary colour blobs on which I will make into birds with long legs... more on that later... but I thought it would be nice to tie in the colours in the cushions with those on the wall on this picture, so I sewed on some felt coloured leaves too. 

My other dilemma was that I was going to add a couple of birds to the branch on the right - you see there is a space I left there specially. But in the end it looked a bit twee (or should that be tweet?) 

My 3rd dilemma was that I bought some copper, gold and silver embroidery thread to put some texture on the trunk of the tree, and I'm still not entirely sure if it adds or detracts from the overall look. If I made another one I'm not sure if I would add that on or not? Also, I'm not entirely happy with the top stitched line across the top of the grass, I was hoping it might fray a bit more down to the line and look really grassy, but in reality - it just looks a bit strange seeing the stitching there. Although, I am not too sure how I would attach the grass otherwise?

I have to say, it was super fiddly to cut out and to sew, and I learned a lot. We used insulation board to staple it to - as that would be really light weight - however, getting a nice straight edge on it was tricky and I am not entirely sure we succeeded on that, as you can see, the top edge of the final piece is pretty wobbly!

I have to tell you also that my lovely hubbie made the frame for me. Which is very impressive! Am just wondering now, if I ought to have stained it and waxed it first to make it a bit darker and smoother and more finished... I may still yet...

I'm not too sure why I wanted to create a massive tree picture, I think I have always had a lot of respect for trees and I think they are really beautiful. I've not told you yet that I am also a published poet - have I? 

When I was in sixth year at school, I wrote and illustrated a poem about trees for our sixth year school magazine. I recently found it in a box of childhood memorabilia that my parents recently dumped on me after a big clear out. It's a very dangerous box to have in the house as it tends to suck away time - I just go for a little rummage in there and before I know it, a few hours have passed... it holds so many treasures from my childhood and teenage years, like all my concert tickets, and notes from friends passed around at school. 

One day I might find a way of making use of some of the goodies in there - in some kind of display or montage, if I ever find the time...