Here are the two pieces that I did for my first homework assignment, cut back applique.

These were inspired by the concrete walls next to the freeway in Everett, WA. I took photos of them when we were there in October. I thought they might make nice stencils. I have to say that I should have stuck with the stencil idea as these were a bit too complex for my skill level and this technique

Here’s a photo of the inspiration. I chose the colors to represent salmon. I’m not sure that the concrete wall fish are supposed to be salmon but it reminded me of our trip and visit to the salmon festival.

The sea weed portion was really a pain to cut out and a pain to zig zag the edges. And parts of the fish were not much better.

I sketched the design first in my studio journal and thought that the first one needed another to go with it. So foolishly, I went ahead and did a second sketch, ending up with two pieces which are 6″x 9″ to complete.

I’ve been working on these all week. I finished with four hours of zig zag stitching today. I’ve decided that I really don’t like doing cut back applique that much.

You can see in the close ups how I had a bit of trouble with the intricate design. So in the future, I hope to remember the KISS principal: Keep it simple, stupid!