STACKED

So I was all ready with my "structure". The sketch was done; even the values were filled in. Then as with all of you, life happened! Last minute came around with no further progress made when lightning struck. Long story short, we live on a small rural acreage and had arranged for around 18 trees to be felled. Many were dead or dying and therefore a hazard and to make it easier for the fallers, we agreed that others would come down also. (I'm getting starved for light.) So here are some pics showing, not exactly before, but rather during the process through to the end result - firewood, all clean, cut and stacked. Photo 1 is the faller up about 130 feet. He has cut all the branches off and this is the moment before he cuts the top off. Looks like he is on a toothpick. Scary!

Photo 2 is wood on the ground - the faller cuts it into smaller lengths as he comes down the tree.

Photo 3 is the wood all cut and stacked. My husband and I were enjoying a beer looking at all our hard work (which is continuing) when the light bulb came on. "A stack of cut firewood is a structure isn't it?", said I gleefully! "Yes indeed", said my husband.

Photo 4 is my firewood structure, STACKED.

Looking at it now, I realize the outward edges should be lower than the middle, but it's done now. Not quite confetti, but the "wood" is still held down with tulle then quilted over very randomly. A feel good moment! Eventually I do hope to make my original idea/sketch into an art piece too.

Semi-Detached Structure

SEMI-DETACHED

... or OMG! 

I completed a challenge! 

Meet Semi-Detached. 

I made the leaves about six weeks ago and left them alone until they provided the "I should do something with these" impetus needed to create Semi-D. Semi-D is created mainly from silk dupioni, which doesn't photograph very well, MistyFuse, and Timtex. I like the rigidity of Timtex, which gives the piece "structure". 

The tree-branch is made from Timtex and heat-activated, moldable batting, giving the tree-branch a slight three-dimensional curve. According to the packaging, the moldable batting gives rigidity and stiffness for handbags and totes. A fun product, and I shall try it again for something. 

The Timtex and moldable batting were covered in brown silk dupioni and cords made from silk embroidery floss,  Kreinik braid, and metallic knitting yarn (the stuff that looks like a ladder) were attached with a zig-zag stitch. The edges were left raw for a little bit of texture.

I should have used a much firmer quilt batting than bamboo, and next time I will quilt the backing and top before attaching such heavy add-ons. In order to keep some of the leaves from flopping around, and to secure the base of the tree-branch, I used some "450 Quick Dry Adhesive" - it's clear and dries very quickly. Some of the leaves are raised from the surface with large beads, which are glued to the background and to the leaf itself.

While I was writing this, my husband was vacuuming my sewing room (Yes, he really was!) and found something I thought I had lost. So I added it to Semi-D.

As a bonus (and because I haven't kept up!), this is a photo of Stream - the piece I used for inspiration when I made the leaves. Stream is over two feet long, and is over seven years old!

Ready for the next challenge!