Two blog posts in one week - wow!  But just wanted to share that I'm making some progress - Yay!

I've already learnt one new thing.  Freezer paper isn't something that it used in New Zealand for freezing stuff, so firstly getting hold of it isn't easy and secondly its crazy expensive.  I've read blog posts about large rolls of the stuff costing like $4 USD.  Here I think I paid the equivalent of $3 a METRE! Well maybe I've learnt two things then, living at the bottom of the world can make things considerably more expensive haha.  But anyway, with this being my first foray into the use of freezer paper I made a rookie mistake.  I drew out my pattern on the freezer paper, cut it out, ironed it to the fabric and then cut the fabric.  Now if I'd read that a week ago, I'd be like 'yeah and?'  but why did I cut twice?  why didn't I just draw it out, iron it on and THEN cut?!?  Cause I'm a newbie thats why haha.  I realised my mistake after I'd done all the clouds, leaves and about 90% of the branches.  Oh well live and learn, right?

So I've decided I'm going with a plain background for the sky, I might live to regret it.  But if I keep waiting to make up my mind 6 months will have passed and I won't have started.  Instead of having white-blue-white clouds I'm going to do blue-white-blue to put some additional colour in the sky.  Considering how little sky is actually visible between the trees and clouds I'm hoping this will work out.  I'm going to cut and pin everything before starting to assemble, so I can check the colours work. And colours are where I fall down every time, so I'm thinking this hopefully will be a good approach.

Turns out the piece of fabric I'd ear-marked for the background is only 90cm wide, so just fitting with my design.  So I need another piece of fabric, I'm also a bit cross about this because there is no way I would have bought only 90cm and not a full metre, so I've been short changed at the store.  But then its as cheap as chips and its not like this piece won't be used at some point, but even still I definitely paid for that missing 10cm and I need it!

The other benefit of using the calico as a backing is that I can just see my pattern through it so I'm not going to have to mark up my fabric at all - phew!  But since I've started removing the freezer paper I have of course also removed all my numbering, so when I unpin it all I'm going to have to be renumber all the leaves (which I numbered on the freezer paper and on my pattern so I could match them up.  Oh well another live and learn moment I guess.  Maybe a chalk pencil of the back of the leaves or something as I take them off?

Also had a 'Oh yikes!' moment yesterday when I started laying out the branches.  If I'm adding the spots onto those branches with French knots, firstly I'm going to need a LOT of them.  And secondly they're going to have to be pretty sizeable to be seen once its on the wall.  Oh well we'll see, its all part of the adventure. 😀

Oh! Just had a thought... I should add a chicken in there somewhere.🐓🐔🐓🐔

Thanks for stopping by!