The Birches, Day Four
I’m actually now past day 5, but who’s counting? Day Four was last Sunday, and I got a whole lot of work done on the quilt that day. I had all the hills, flowers/snow and trees pinned down to see if I liked the layout before I stopped last time. On Sunday I decided that there weren’t enough trees and they were all a little more straight than trees really are, so there was more cutting of tiny strips of fabric and ironing and pinning and arranging. I can see the forest now, I think.
And then I had to unpin most of the trees (except the bottom) so I could start sewing hills. I thought it was pretty funny seeing it there hanging off the ironing board, thought you might be tickled too. Sometimes I think on steep mountainsides that trees will get tired and start doing this sort of thing. But I have a very active imagination. 
I spent a considerable portion of Sunday afternoon sewing hills. You see, this is the part where the sort of … muse or whatever sorta takes my fancy and I start making things up as I go along. I mean, I had the basic idea for the thing down but it’s what happens during the process that’s unexpected that makes it so interesting. Did I show the drawing I made that began this? I don’t think I did, so here it is.
Anyway, I decided to sew more lines in the hills than were really required to actually applique them. And then about three lines in I realized I was sewing topography lines – you know, contour lines in cartographic relief depiction – that indicate the elevation, and how steep the terrain really is. Because it’s a Nordic scene and there are mountains going down to a lake! Now you all think I’m a big dork, but in my defense I (a) see them a lot on my hiking maps and (b) worked for a guy who used these relief maps a lot. Anywho, I sewed a lot of very unplanned lines.
At the end of the night I had started to achieve what I love most about doing this sort of textile work. One by one the pins are removed, the tiny stitches are placed and it’s not unrelated pieces of fabric anymore, but instead a very tactile sort of thing, with depth and texture, it becomes heavier and more substantial as you layer and sew. I like the idea that something like this that I spent a lot of time and thought on reflects that in its very layering and depth.
And then, I started the tree work … but that’s an ordeal for another night.
