I have included a picture below that shows a detail of where I am working right now, which is the end of the knot-work of branches above the yellow flower.

I have a situation there where this small branch is supposed to end up branching off the main branch, then curling over in front of it. I finally decided that the best way to achieve the look would be to cut he main branch where it goes behind the small offshoot branch. When I cut the section out I cut this section as one piece, then I gently curved the offshoot piece a bit more so it overlapped the piece that it was to go over the top of. These were cut in basically the same position they are now, but i added a small bit more curve to the branch over the main branch just to cover the seams.

The way it is here is only partially finished. I will come back and tuck the rest of the branch, cut out separately, behind the offshoot to look like it is a complete branch, then I will finish stitching down the offshoot branch. For now, I need to finish sewing the underside of the first segment of the main branch.

I will say one thing about this – it could well be the last time I ever make a hand appliqued quilt for selling. I already know I can never sell this thing for the time invested in creating it.

I am quite happy with the fabric I picked for the trunk of the tree. It is a deep rusty red with black mottling, and so far the mottling as fallen quite a few times where there would be a natural shadow effect. I can’t wait to see the finished quilt and see just how the rusty fabric worked out overall.

If you look closely (or not so close) at the edge of the yellow and orange here, then you will see that the applique work has tiny little black threads showing along the edge of the work.

Yes, I did. I used black thread to sew the yellow applique piece to the white background fabric. And I did it in dim lighting so I did not even realize I had effed up until this morning when I picked the thing up to look it over and get started again.

So, what did I do? As tempting as it was to tear all the black out and start over, I instead got out the yellow embroidery threads and am working my way around the area with the correct color to resew the section and eradicate the black that shows up.

Were I to sell this quilt for a few thousand dollars as a work of art I would toss it and start from scratch to do it all properly, but I am making it to be used and abused, so the double stitch work will only add to the strength of the little flower in the long run.