I have tried a variety of ways to “piece” leaves into or onto my tree quilts. I still lean towards no leaves for most designs or I have the leaves pieced in the background of the trees so the greens or autumn colors are part of the art quilt even as they are not over top of the branches or trunks.
With Trees 55 I AGAIN stepped out of my comfort zone and tried a new design approach. I created a Tree art quilt as a landscaped quilt with a lake and hills in the background but added more branches which were pieced into the base quilt. Then I took 4-5 different fabrics and cut geometric oddball shapes which I added with raw edge applique to the upper section of the tree with the sky in the background. I did not sew each piece on but rather used a meandering stipple stitch to attach them to the art quilt. I arranged these shapes somewhat randomly to resemble the different greens you see when you look at trees. The addition of the raw edge applique definitely adds depth to the art quilt and an interesting compliment of color as seen in summer Trees. I tried to place these oddball shaped pieces so that the branches and sky periodically show through.
I’m still looking and relooking at this quilt, figuring out if I like it or not…I think I do but it is very different from all my past Tree quilts.