The background is pieced and the other elements are raw-edge appliqued on top.
I made a background using quarter-square triangles (hourglass blocks) in a sort of colorwash setting. I wasn't sure what I wanted to put on it as a focal piece, so it hung out on my design wall until it told me what it wanted. I kept thinking it looked like a bunch of leaves in a tree, so this is what happened.
I added some branches, then some birds in a faux stained-glass style, and then some leaves and flowers after. Everything is fused webbing, raw-edge appliqued, and I top-stitched everything down before layering it and quilting it. I quilted around the birds and other elements, then stitched a sort of orange peel design on the rest to calm down the jagged feeling of all the triangles.
There is no pattern. I made it up as I went along from inspiration from a lot of pictures I saw online.
BTW, I am now Susan Miller but don't know how to change my username.
