I began at the far shoreline with a small scale free-motion ripple pattern using a dark variegated blue King Tut thread. The water's edge is shaded with watercolor pencils (my first experience with them).
Then I switched to a medium value variegated blue K.T. thread and free-motion quilted a larger scale of the same ripple pattern in the foreground.
The middle of the lake reflects the light sky and is stitched with a light value variegated blue K.T. thread with a medium sized ripple pattern.
I don't know how excess top fabric got in the middle of this lake, but it did. Thankfully, it ended up there where wind waves do occur rather than on either bank. Although if I had worked sequentially across the lake from the far bank, I could've tucked the wrinkles behind the rocks. The lake is a bit more "sculptural" than I had intended.The scrubby trees and flowering weeds came next.
The back sides of the individual pieces were sprayed with a temporary fabric adhesive to hold them in place between and behind rocks. I cut over-sized pieces of aqua tulle netting for each "grouping" and pinned it in place to do the quilting. Free-motion stitching along the stems and branches was done with a beige variegated K.T. I used a variegated K.T. green for the leafy areas. The excess tulle outside the quilted areas was trimmed away.I wish to thank Anne for suggesting the tulle layer so that a minimum of quilting would suffice. It's amazing how difficult it is to see the tulle layer. The aqua color blends into the color of the lake between the foliage.
Next is the border.
