To choose my country I wanted to find photos in connection with happy memories ! I have been to Canada (Ontario) several times and still have good friends there !

Again my ecoprinting experiences gave me the idea to use a real leaf from my collection as the emblem shape for the maple leaf. From a dried leaf I made several stamps and printed fabrics. I decided to use winter and fall tones only for my prints : black on rust, white on black, rust on light or dark grey etc … The only bright colour being red for the big maple leaf : I used a piece of lutradur, dyed it with transfer dyes and cut out the shape with a soldering iron.

The maple leaf is well known on the Canadian flag but I also wanted to mention the native North American people. I introduced a totem : I simplified an image coming from a children’s book, traced it on tracing paper and quilted it. It was painted afterward with acrylic paint following a picture taken at the Museum of civilisation in Ottawa.

The background fabric is hand dyed, I layered dyed cheese cloth on it first and then placed my different leaves. The leaves are fused on the background and freemotion quilted. The quilt is faced.

Detail views;