Thread Painting and Landscape Class...

For the first time I am going to try to link up to The Needle and Thread Network.
I hope I get it  right.

I took a class from a local Hamilton, Ontario women Dianne Bergman teaching at Quilters Dream Quilt Shop Burlington, Ontario.
Quilters Dream

This was February 9th, 2013. We had had a huge snow storm on the 8th but major roads and highways were clear.

This was a great class. In the morning we learned to thread paint different kinds of trees and bushes to use in our landscape.

I had taken this same class a few years ago but did not do anything more with it. Learning and expanding thread painting skills and free motion stitching is a goal of mine.

Diane was organized and has done quite a bit of teaching this class. We all received the sample page of how the trees were done. We had instruction on thread choices and demonstration and then practice.

After lunch we began working on a small landscape from a page of sample designs. We discussed fabric choices, view point, how the fabric reads in each section of the design from foreground, mid ground and background. While I have read this information in books I have and actually having taken the similar class a few years ago maybe I am ready to absorb the material now. I took a ton of notes. And some pictures of the process on my chosen scene.

I am not done yet (Story of my life it seems...) I did not make the "trees" the foreground big enough. So I need to add in a larger tree and claim the two that are there as bushes. I am not sure I like the stuffed snow. And I over did my stitching in a few places. I need to learn that sometimes less is more...

I liked the class so much I signed up for Diane's Floral Picture class at the same store in early March.

I had never been to Quilters Dream before. It is a great store with very friendly staff. Telling myself that I did not need anymore stuff. I did end up buying a large cone of thread to put in the bobbin of my machine.

I also succumbed to 3 fat quarters  for landscapes and one half meter of sky fabric.

Part of the class was taking the class for more advanced work but it was only 7 people and I did not feel that having newbies and experienced landscapers was a problem.

Great day out and part of learning something I want to improve on. This class more than met my expectations!

What do you find hard about landscape pictures...