Improv Berries - Top finished!

Wide borders have been added, but I'm planning to crop and maybe even keep some of the irregular shape once it is quilted.  For now, the larger borders will be quilting space while deciding what I'd like to do for a finished shape.  The binding will be a traditional one, in the same fabric as the border, so it will disappear when you step back from the quilt.

The quilt is really lighter in color than the picture above, but a  bit darker than the one below - somewhere in between, and definitely on the warmer color side, like above.  Somehow, this little pocket camera does a better job at getting more correct color when the flash goes off, but these were taken in the same room, same daylight florescent lights, and still the camera had a mind of it's own, changing the colors a bit.  Anyways, I stood a bit closer and let the camera crop the borders to give you an idea of how it would look if it is cropped with straight edges - just squaring up the quilt.

Now off to my stash to look for backing fabric.  I should have something that would work, or could be pieced together to work.

Improv Berries - Center Panel

The center panel is now one complete, although ragged piece.  Next, will be adding dark borders so that it can float.  All the uneven edges will make this another challenge, since I don't want to smooth them out any more than I did when piecing the panel.  Not sure if it will be "finished" or not, since I've already begun entertaining the idea of adding some painted things, but will wait until the borders are on to decide.  Besides, there's always the option to add 3D things, even after the binding is on...

Watercolor Pears

We had a small, but very nice pear harvest this year!  With all those pears around, they naturally became an object to paint!  We've still got a few in the fridge, but along with these paintings, I took some pictures to use for future painting sessions.  

This two page spread was painted by picking up one pear at a time, deciding which side to paint, and then sketching the shape on my pre-stamped journal page.  I continued to add pears until I was happy with the layout and felt I had enough to play with paint colors, and then began painting.  The colors were mixed on the paper, as I painted, instead of on the palette.

This page is actually the first of the group that I painted (forgive my shadow over the painting - it was a quick picture).  As I painted more pears, I think my technique improved.  If I would paint more frequently, my painting would improve faster...

The smallest (only a bit larger than a credit card) pear is my favorite!  I decided to add salt and it really brought out the speckles that are on our pears, something that is missing in the other paintings.

Improv Berries -progress

Having decided to just go for it and start cutting my strata into chunks, I'm finally making progress on this quilt and can finally see it coming together, although I'm sure it still needs something.  Will be adding more of the dark blue / leafy fabric as borders, but unsure whether I'll end up with even or uneven edges.  (If I'm not happy with it as a top, I'll just add another layer - maybe paint?)