40 Shades of Green

When visiting Ireland in the fall of 2013, the sun finally broke through the clouds at Newgrange. The fields and the trees around us glistened, and our guide said "Ireland is 40 shades of green". Personally, I think there are a lot more than 40 shades, but using that phrase, I created the following quilt using some of the photographs from the trip. My daughter, Liz, and I rented a car, travelled from Dublin, north to Belfast and continued to circle around the island, checking out castles and cliffs, amazing scenery and pubs .... and even a quilting store!

After completing this piece, I realized I had 39 shades of green (thread, fabric, small beads locating the pictures) so the 40th shade is actually on the back, (part of the sheep label).
I made a template of each county based on one of our maps, and cut the shape from green fabric backed with fusible webbing. Once ironed, each piece was satin-stitched.  The border, Celtic-knot style, is hand-stitched. The pictures are copied on my printer on fusible fabric sheets that I purchased at the local business store. (I have since found out how to transfer pictures & labels directly on to my own fabric).
The background (water area) is machine-quilted in the same style as the Neolithic patterns found on the stones at Bru na Boinne (Newgrange) in County Meath.