Sunday, March 31, 2013

A Log for My Marsh Isle Quilt

This week I worked on the log for my quilt of the marsh pond in my backyard.  The log started as a very tall tree on the edge of our property that had been dead for sometime when we moved here in 2005.  My husband was quite worried that if it fell the wrong way it would take out the fence, the deck and even part of the house. He spent several days measuring and calculating and finally decided that the house would survive even if the fence and deck didn't.

Several years ago we had a severe storm come through and as he watched, the tree swayed back and forth in the wind until it went just a bit to far -  and down it went. It landed just about perfectly along the edge of our marsh pond (away from the fence, the deck and the house).  Since then it has been a perfect place for the water birds to perch while they scout the pond for fish and frogs.  The turtles also like to sun themselves on it.

The first picture is the first layer of paint. It is much too light.


I added more paint and for the bark area, I used a sponge.  For the area where the bark is peeled off I dragged a fan brush across the surface to create wood grain lines. 



Originally I planed to have the log be one piece - but now I think I will cut the bark out, thread sketch it, and then use an additional layer of batting under it to create more dimension.  It will add some issues in construction, but I think I have figured out how to cover the additional seam with the cattails I am working on next.



I am linking this to Nina-Marie Sayre's Off the Wall Fridays as a way to keep me focused on finishing this piece!

3 comments:

  1. I like the progress of painted log.
    Your background is very cool and that turtles can sun on your log in real time, inspirational.

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  2. I love the texture on the log. The colors of the background are great, too... And I love your writing about the fallen log- I could picture it- it has a great sense of place.

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  3. I think the paint and texture to the log looks great - its a good idea to add paint - I'll have to remember it. Plus the change in value was exactly what was needed!

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