Fall - My AAQI Block Donation

Some time ago SewBuds (another online CQing group I'm in) decided to donate some crazy quilted 9 x 12" quilts for the Make a Donation Quilt project for the Priority American Alzheimer Quilts.  I wanted to help out with an embellished block but just wasn't sure if I'd get around to piecing the block, so sweetheart Dorothy offered to piece the blocks and send them to us to work on.  So here is Dorothy's "naked" block and my embellished block beside it.

Once it was received I knew right away what my theme was going to be and got to work on it.  It's just too bad that I had to fall and thus impede my "sitting/stitching" time and naturally all projects sort of fell behind time.

Since I LOVE FALL so much and the richness of it that was going to be my main thread throughout the block.  I was given a bag of ric rack and spotted this one right away so onto the block it was pinned.  Most of the embroidery was done with size 5 and 8 perle cottons with a few regular embroidery floss embellishments along with the metallic accents.  From my stash of motifs I found this tea-dyed butterfly and decided to add some orange rayon floss for accent and secure it in place too. 

Recently I had picked up some needle felting kits but as yet had not tested them out so thought - this is a great place to do such.  So first I felted the wine leaves in the top left - easy peasy!!!  Then I found some knobby acrylic yarn and managed to do it also but not as easily as the wool fibres so this maple leaf needs some adhesive help from interfacing on the back to keep it anchored.  After this I'd gotten the knack of this technique and felted the purple leaves at the bottom along with the green leaves on the top - getting more artistic in my blending of two colours.

I attempted to do each maple leaf within the fabrics a different technique so the bottom one I just did outline floss embroidery with metallic veins and the upper leaf I "crazily" did French knots for the various coloured speckles within that leaf and outlined this one in chain stitched perle cotton to pop more.  In beside this leaf I decided to hide my copper metallic web and spider and think I succeeded.

Now I was stumped as there were two patches that just called for attention but I was lost as to what they needed.  After a bit I decided to fill one in with chains hopefully giving the impression of seeds blowing in the wind.  Then at a local fabric artists meeting, my friend suggested appliqueing a maple seed in that other patch - well it worked just splendidly!!!  Thank you Pat.

I added a few more minor touch ups on the seams and now I deem it FINISHED!!!  Tomorrow it will be mailed off to Dorothy for the assembly and posting to the AAQI headquarters.