Quilted Photos

I needed another break from making the Christmas cards (which are still coming along--18 completely finished, with another 15 or so in progress).

A while back, I saw a really cool idea--quilted photographs embellished with beads.  The photographs were printed on fabric, and then "matted" and "framed" with fabric.  It gave the photo added dimension and called attention to areas that otherwise might have gone unnoticed in the photograph.

I fell in love with the idea, which of course led me to trying it out myself.  The photo to the right is my attempt at it.  The image is of a waterfall in northern Michigan (Bond Falls).  I quilted around some of the trees with hand-dyed embroidery floss, and I quilted areas of the waterfall itself.  I also added some white beads in the falls and some yellow beads where there were clusters of yellow flowers in the picture.

Why bring this up?  I've started working on my second image:  a close up of a cone flower.  I also printed a third image on fabric.  And, now I want to add my own touches--both in terms of quilting and in framing.  I've purchased a black frame that I want to use for the cone flower and a plain wood frame that I haven't quite decided yet how to decorate for the third image.

More on this later, I'm sure.