Time and Trees: First snow of winter

I continue my series that takes inspiration from the way that trees see the passage of time. I decided to use a more abstract design to represent a clearing in a woodland as the first gentle snow of winter arrives quietly.

For this winter piece I have gone “off piste’ a little by using khadi paper as one of the main design elements. Firstly I used a plain cotton background fabric that I printed with white acrylic using a ‘script’ printing block, before using diluted Brusho paint to add a little more colour. I used the same Brusho paint on the khadi paper, with white acrylic paint on top for the snow. I fused the square of paper to the background to represent a clear view through the trees.

The tree trunks are cut from plain black cotton and bonded before machine quilting to the background. I then continued the black machine stitching to add the thinner branches and twigs, and then pale stitching at the bottom of the piece to hint at old vegetation. I formed Frenck knots using white embroidery thread to add the snow flakes around the ‘clearing’ and on the khadi paper to add more snow on top of the acrylic paint.

I am happy with the quiet feel of the finished piece, though I don’t know whether tradition quilters would agree with some of the piece being made from paper!

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