Another 12"x12" exchange

Tommy once again asked if we wanted to participate in a 12"x12" finished block exchange.  Of course, I said yes!  I do enjoy these exchanges.  You can make each block the same or different for your group.  I only needed to make three to give away and one for myself.  Back in June, I  showed a stenciled tree block, which was my sample block and the one I'll keep for this exchange.  You can see that post here.

These are the three that I've mailed on to the other ladies in my group.

I started off with a tree stencil using fabric paint on black fabric.

Next, I cut circles out of ultra suede and fused to the bottom of the block.  I sandwiched the piece and then added some machine embroidery around each suede square.  I also hand stitched black Perle cotton around the inside of the circle.

I  free motion quilted in between the three suede squares and  added a ring of black beads around the center circle.

  I wanted to add some stab/hand stitching so I picked up some 20 wt crochet thread (my friend Susan uses this thread for hand quilting!) in a shocking pink.

I  free motion quilted the entire tree to give some stability to the block before I did the stab stitching.

I fused a backing to the piece and added a label.  A black binding was added then I finished the piece by using the same 20 wt crochet thread for the buttonhole stitching around the top edge on one side.

These were fun to make and gave me some hand work to do while watching TV at night!  I'm looking forward to receiving my blocks from the ladies.  I have Tommy's block she sent last week but I'll hold off until I receive all blocks and show at once.