Lighthouse block progress

I've been working on my little lighthouse quilt. I started with just the lighthouse, and my plan was to add a smaller block of a sand dune below it with sashing between. I used Karen Eckmeier's Layered Curves and Accidental Landscapes techniques. It was a simple and fun process, and of course, once again I didn't take pictures because I was so busy working playing with fabric. Basically, all I needed to do was take a few strips of fabric in dune-y colors, cut a graceful curve along one long edge of each one, fold the edge over and press, layer the strips up on a foundation piece of fabric, and topstitch them. Before I did the stitching, I laid out the dune block below the light house with paper sashing (substituting for the fabric I would use) between them and a frame around it to see how it would all look. I showed it to my husband, and he seemed confused. Why did I have a white strip cutting the picture in two?

So I laid out the blocks again, without the paper. 

Hmmm. I liked that better. (Sorry for the bad lighting.) So I stitched it all up, and added lots of details with embroidery thread--much more than I usually do, but the details of the real lighthouse are so distinctive that I got carried away. Don't look too closely at the embroidery. It's not precise--I'm a little rusty with detailed work. (Probably need new glasses.)

I think if I ever make this pattern again, I'll do the windows with sewing thread instead of embroidery so that they show but don't stand out so much. Oh well. I learn something with everything I make. 

I'm glad I followed my husband's advice to combine the blocks into one. Now to make the fabric border and frame the piece. I'll be back Friday with the finished project. 

I'm linking up today with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday.