And here is a tiny part of the center of the piece, showing all kinds of thing!

A distant tree is sketched in with just thread, and leaves stitched in. A pine tree is in the next plane (if you will) and waiting for stitching in the needles. In front of that is a tree with yellow leaves; some fabric bulks out each branch and stitching is used to imply leaves and blend the edges into something softer. And in the very foreground of this picture (but not the ultimate foreground of the piece) is the beginnings of a birch tree. 

I feel like I'm showing you the underpainting – it is crucial for me, but I'm not sure how interesting or important it is to the you-the-viewer. 

We are headed to see Cirque de Soleil's Quidam tonight at UMass. It is always odd to see these big, older shows in an arena rather than a tent. It… lacks something. Probably it lacks the tent, and the whole ambience that goes with being sort-of outside, but I can't be any more specific than that. I'll see if I cna describe it any better after tonight. 

I ordered a lot of new threads because I was feeling the need for something different. I love variegated threads because the changing colors help the piece work, and add depth without quite so many spool changes. These are various Valdani threads. (Aren't they lovely?) I've heard from friends that they are slubby and break, but I have enough other issues with needles and breakage I'm not sure I can attribute it to anything other than my own bad behavior.

These are leaf, pine tree and mossy greens, and a set of the Most Gorgeous Blues. I don't know yet what I'll use them on, but it will be something wonderful. 

And I started the next piece. It doesn't look like much yet, but you can see the sky, and the hillside the tres are on, and the puddles of fallen leaves under the trees. It will become clear!