Caro Higgs – Decay #1
My inspiration comes from looking at old trees in the forests and an old quilt that I have cut up and ‘recycled’.
This is one of pair of quilts using an old quilt, focussing on the tree trunk and the way that it is slowly decaying with the forest around it.
The fabric is a commercial black fabric which I de-coloured, the original larger quilt was inspired by the random patterns that I found I had achieved. The tree trunk such as it is is machine and hand quilted, with thermofax printed leaves have been stitched by machine and the background is hand-stitched.
FIFTEEN BY FIFTEEN 
Love all the complex structures one can find on a tree trunk, beautiful work.
Very nice stitching.
I like that the leaves look so vibrant despite being transparent.
Interesting reuse of an old piece.
This is a very interesting recycling of an old quilt giving a new life to it. I love the textures of your hand and machine stitching.
Very good idea to reuse an old quilt ! The mix of hand and machine stitching gives an interesting texture to your oiece.
The quilting gives life and movement to the intricate patterns found on tree trunks. Beautiful and simple.
I like the randomness of your composition and how even with this effect, one still understands this to be a fallen tree with decayed leaves.
How wonderful that you could use an old quilt for this piece. Very lovely stitching detailing many different structures. Beautiful piece.
I am very impressed by the many techniques you used in the work. I really like the hand stitching and the choice of colors, especially the removal of the color from the black fabric.
Good idea to de-colour black fabric. I love the stitched leaves.
The de-coloring of the black fabric is very effective for this theme.
The machine- as well as your hand stitching is awesome as always.
Good idea to recycle an old quilt.
I really like this piece a lot. Bravo.
A fascinating use of previous work. The design is complex but all elements work well as a whole. Lovely stitching.
Incredible stitching work. I love the colours and the movement in your quilt. Beautiful!
What a lovely texture of tree bark you have created with this piece. the stitching also adds texture and the ethereal nature of the leaves ties the texture together with the notion of a tree decaying. Great work
All the intricate stitching gives the abstract log so much detail, texture and depth. Fascinating composition, well done!