Garden Lady #6 - part Two

This is a continuation of a previous post about the making of Garden Lady #6.

I wanted to pick the background before I made the clothes for this Garden Lady.  My Garden Lady quilts need 54" or so in length (to end up 50" L), and a lot of the material that I buy and save is one yard.  I did find a couple fabrics that fit the bill, and ended up with a fairly plain, neutral background.    I also had a lovely black mottled fabric designed by Marcia Derse.  I used this for the bottom of the background.  In order to get the right curve, I traced the shape onto freezer paper, ironed this to the back, painted the seam allowance with starch, and pressed it into place.  This was appliqued to the upper background with invisible thread and a small zig zag stitch.

I decided to collage the dress, since I've used that method for all of the other quilts in either the clothes or the background.  I drew the outline of the dress onto tear-away stabilizer and started with a hand painted fabric.  I pulled out a pile of things to add to the top and stopped for the night when most of it was covered.

                                    Yarn, Angelina fibers, antique trims, hand dyed fabric.

When I was satisfied with the toppings, I added a layer of tulle and quilted the dress in 2 shades of green rayon thread.  I like how pretty it is and am now not so sure I want to cover it up with an organza over-slip.  

What do you think?