Cherry Blossom Tapestry for UCLA Commons Window

I found this swaying cherry blossom tree in a Tim Walker book totally inspiring and wanted to recreate it for the UCLA Commons window.

I knew it was going to take a lot of stamping so I took a cherry blossom stamp that I already had and stamped on a linoleum stamp then carved around the flowers to make a great big swath of cherry blossoms.

I took a large piece of cotton muslin and dip dyed the bottom 1/3 into a warm salty bath of Rit dye Denim Blue.  I hung it to dry outside on a line.  After it dried, I appliqued the tree using three different bark-y colored fabrics cut into flame shapes.  As usual- Wonder-under was my friend, ironed to the back of the fabrics, they stuck really well to the muslin.  

Next came the fun stamp-a-thon. I loosely mixed three different colors of Folk Art paint- Pure Orange, Metallic Rose, and Metallic Peach Pure. I hand-sewed a swing to the tapestry too to convey a camp-y feel.  It's pretty rad here on my picnic table, might have a second-life as a table cloth or a curtain after the window comes down.

But for now, it's on 2nd Street in Santa Monica!