The Last Leaf

My grandpa was a watercolorist. I have two of his paintings, and this is my favorite. I think he even made the frame, which is quite rustic.

Using the soft, light colors as the background, I raw-edge appliqued the tree, then added snippets of leafy, grassy colors around the base of the tree, including a couple of real oak leaves. The leaves come from the park overlooking Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis last week.

I'm sure the tree limbs are too "hefty, and I don't like that the same plaid fell into the two top corners. Funny what you don't see until you look at a photo.

This was a fun challenge, and I'm glad to be back in it.

So Cold This Morning

This haiku was written my mother's lifetime friend, who just turned 100. She sent me a book that she wrote for her 100th birthday, and I chose this haiku for the challenge.
I used a photo of me on my 7th birthday for the silhouette. The blue chair lived in my room until I was in college. I tried to make the picture look cold, except for the shimmery gold moon and moonbeams. The quilt measures about 14" x 12".
I didn't do much with the stitching part of the challenge. I would have made it much more abstract, but I am going to send the little quilt to my mother's friend, with my photo on the label on the back. Of course Marguerite knew me when I was 7. The quilt is an oval shape both for an old-fashioned feel and because there was nothing interesting to look at in any of the corners!
Critiques are always welcome.

Found Money

I've had this little idea for awhile.
"See a penny, pick it up
All the day you'll have good luck."
I've been collecting the coins I've picked up from the ground, and this was the time to use them.
The coins and the metallic thread are the metal, and the good luck is the optimistic element.
The tulle overlay on the fabric forms the cage for the coins, when stitched with the metallic thread. The text is printed on a piece of fabric ironed to Wonder Under. I find my printed does like that combination, better than freezer paper. As I'm usually cutting up an image and fusing it, that works for me. The quilt is about 11" square. It was fun, and I'm glad to be back after about a year!