what I'm working on

So, a few months ago, I got to learn how to do some thread painting (also known to some as embroidery) with a lovely lady from the quilters guild. Unfortunately, my life has not allowed me the time to get back with her to quilt with her, but I am grateful for learning this technique from her. What sets thread painting apart from embroidery is the freedom to color and shade with different color threads and a lot of machines you can pre program your embroidery into and with thread painting it is all in the hands of the stitcher using the machine. At least this is my opinion of the primal difference between them. I have been wanting to learn to do this for quite some time because it opens up a whole new world of how to use thread on my quilts and I'm always looking for things that can make what I do even better... So, I finally worked up the nerve to start a project and naturally, I had do something large rather than start small... AND I am not going to add any other colors since this is my first time and first attempt... So far, I'm happy with how it is going and there is so far very little fabric distortion which means to me I got it stabilized pretty well. What little has happened I think I will be able to cover up once I get to the quilting process. I also have discovered my hoop may be a little small that I'm working with, so I'm on the lookout for a good 10 or 12 inch hoop. Right now, I'm using an 8" which I think also is helping keep the fabric from distorting and pulling up. Anyhow, here are some photos... the stabilizer is still on, but it washes out, but you can at least see how it is progressing. The fabric is hand dyed by my friend Anita and thus far, I'm happy with it how it's going...