Palm Tree Process

Got to spend quite a bit of time working on my palm tree project today. Here’s where I left off…

Background ready and then I layered batting and stabilizer. No backing yet because it’s easier to bead without trying to hide the stitches between layers. The stabilizer is necessary for the beading to come.

I did simple quilting through the layers.

I laid the palm fronds on top of the background and liked it so much that I questioned whether or not I wanted to go ahead with the crazy beads.

Fused it down and just ran a row of stitching around each frond. One thing I do to points is to stitch a few stitches beyond the end to be sure they look pointy! On a piece where they might show, it makes a difference. On this one, the fronds just need to be anchored down.

I found it rather difficult to manuever this piece while doing the quilting. The stabilizer layer made it very stiff, which is good for the beading part, but not so easy to shove around under the quilting foot!

Crazy beads or no crazy beads? I grabbed handsful of the beads and laid them down on the palm fronds to see how they would look.

And up closer…

I’m thinking I’ll cover the fronds very closely with the beads and just have fun with it. It’s all ready to start with the beads, but I wonder what it would look like with some elegant beads instead of the funky beads. Gonna throw some more beads at it before I decide.

For an idea intended to be totally funky and fun, this is turning into a nice piece that I might want to be a bit classier! Hmmmmm…………

Linking to Off the Wall Friday!