This past week or two I have been talking a lot about my comfort zone….

…or lack thereof!!

One of my goals for this year was to pull out my paint brushes at least six times during the year.

I did one day when we were in Canada…..

It was so much fun!!

When I first started playing with paint, I purchased a set of inexpensive acrylic paints but had never opened them.

A few weeks ago I decided that it was time to try using them!!

I admit that I love watching Facebook and YouTube reels, especially about painting, pottery, and, of course, quilting.

One of the things I have learned is to make a wash for the background, so……

I started with a string of white and covered the canvas….

Next, I made dots and blobs of other colors…..

Finally, I used a larger brush and painted from the center out…..

I learned that I needed to wash out the brush more so that everything didn’t get so muddy!!

Several weeks passed as I thought about what to add to the painting.

Finally, last week I was struggling with my “no comfort zone” quilt, so I grabbed my paints and made a start!!

Starting with a bit of yellow and brown…..

…. and “pounced” a flower center.

Okay….that’s an okay start!!

But what type of flower is this?? A sunflower sounds easy….let’s do that.

I mixed up some yellow paint, poised the brush over the canvas…..

Took a REALLY deep breath…..

And painted the first layer of petals….

I darkened the yellow, painted a second layer of petals, lightened the color again, and painted one more round.

This is what I ended up with……

I am happy with this start!!

My sweet husband made me feel wonderful by asking if he could put it in his office at work. I said “maybe” because I am unsure it is finished!! I may add something else (maybe another sunflower) to the background.

So now I need 3 more days of painting before the end of the year…. I better get busy!!

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For Free-Motion Quilting ideas, be sure to check out my YouTube channel…… https://www.youtube.com/c/francesquilts/videos