Blowing Snow

This is the first challenge piece I have finished in a looonnnggg time.... I have a number of started pieces hanging around, but finally got one done only a few days late!
"Blowing Snow" 7.5"x10"
Whether it has been rain or snow, lately there has always been wind.... I thought of trying out something with the rain since it seems like it wants to rain forever around here, but I got myself a die cutting machine a couple weeks ago and one of the dies that came with the kit I purchased was a snowflake. I have had a great time trying to see what I can do with a limited number of dies and I have even finished another little piece, too (not appropriate for this challenge). A couple weeks ago, we had the most perfect snowfall... the temperature was perfect to allow perfectly formed flakes to gently fall into a little layer where I could see the individual flakes. I even was able take a couple photos that caught their beauty with a macro lens. The photos along with the die cutting helped this piece to form. The snowflakes cut by the machine were pretty simple, so I cut out more from their centers... not very neatly, but it also gave me some more tiny flakes to use. I had the piece of salt patterned fabric in deep blue that I always think of falling snow when I see it, so it became the background. The flakes are stitched over with an iridescent white thread, along with free motion swirls and swooshes in the background. I also added to the movement with more swooshes and swirls in a variegated thread in shades of blues. The edges are bound with a wool blend yarn with a really fuzzy, hairy texture that I feel makes it look as if the snow is blowing right off the piece.

This is definitely no masterpiece, but considering I ended up doing next to no quilted pieces last year larger than a postcard, this has helped me with my struggle to crawl out of my deep hole of creative darkness... I pray that I will be able to keep on creating.... I really do need lots of art therapy :)