Off the starting blocks and running ...

Well ok - walking then ... bosoms far too large for running with any comfort I'm afraid (phew). But I am off and going with a new banner for Region 10. The region includes Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Derbyshire and Leicestershire (in no particular order) - so I've designed a banner with five sections, one for each county. It will also have a top and bottom with the QGBI on and the region number. These top and bottom panels are going to be pieced flying duck (I think that is what I mean), and I tremble whenever I think of making them .. so much care and accuracy needed. So I'm leaving those till last, like the true coward I am, and starting with the county panels. Here is my working drawing:

 

The counties are, from the left: Leicestershire, which will be a background of the old forest, with silhouettes of the county emblem the Fox over; Lincolnshire, which will be the sea, wolds and fields, with Lincoln Cathedral as a silhouette over the top; Nottinghamshire, which will be the oldest oak (made from Nottigham lace) with Robin Hood as a silhouette; Derbyshire, which will be the Derbyshire Dales, with a silhouette of Chatsworth; and Rutland, which will be Rutland water, with a sailing boat silhouetted. The design above is just for the backgrounds. I felt my oak tree lacked a smidge of detail, so even though it will be made from lace, and hence more interesting, I redesigned it a bit:

 

 

Sorry about the curly paper! - but you get the gist. These background panels are going to be made from rather modern commercial fabrics and will not necessarily colour match reality (do I ever??) This will go well with the very stylised drawings I feel, and contrast beautifully with the dark silhouettes

 

 

You may notice that I have also swapped Lincolnshire and Derbyshire round, to give a better balance of colour and shape. You see those white piles underneath? - those are pattern pieces, cut from a master copy of my drawings ... startlingly accurate for me, but it is for the Region, so I feel it must be done nearly properly. This is the background of the background, if that makes sense (probably not actually) - I shall add the other trees, windmills, viaducts etc after I have quilted these. I have finally learnt to think ahead a bit, and this will be much easier. So here they are quilted:

 

 

They are all lovely and ripply now and ready for the next layer of applique - which is tomorrows job. I'll report on progress.

I have to show you this lovely image from last week before I go:

 

 

How magical is that combination of snow, white trunks and blue blue sky? There is so much beauty in our world. Talk soon - Hilary xx