Ready to quilt- I THINK!

All the pieces are made- almost, but I am playing around with the arrangement. This is where artistic licence can come in.

All ready for final placement of the little buds- squared up and trimmed off . That feels better!

The wee touches of red in place, just needing the top edge of the bottom right leaf

I have fooled and fooled and fooled with this and now, I think I am ready to make a decision.

Here we are, all nicely fused and trimmed and ready to quilt. It has been a long job but an enjoyable sort of puzzle.

Next job, sort the threads and choose the perfect colours for contrast and coordination.

Solomon's Seal

I have had two pieces burning in my brain since our return from Britain. I have finished the Fatsia Japonica and am well on the way to completing the Solomon's Seal one. The photo I am working on was taken in our garden just before we left for the UK and just as the little dangly flowers were about to open. I LOVE this plant. It is a variegated one too so it is extra pretty. To date, even with the drought and the heat, it has never flagged and , surprisingly, the earwigs have not attacked it so the foliage is still pristine.

The Photo I am working from

My Freezer paper drawing traced from my pattern.I drew the pattern, then had it enlarged and printed by my favourite print shop.

The photo, the drawing and the hand dyed fabrics, oh my!

My muslin backing with the pattern traced trough from the printed pattern. All ready to begin !

The first few background bits applied.

A bit more progress

That big leaf has the surface on now so the lighter veins show

One more big veiny leaf

The first pair of little white buds. Solomon's Seal flowers are always in pairs!

...and the story, so far. Second pair of buds.

I dyed all of the fabrics I am using for this piece too. Now that I have opened this Pandora's Box again, I may never return to store bought fabrics! Seriously, I likely will as I have tons to use up but I am loving creating bespoke fabrics as I go.

Later today, I shall post this to needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca. Look at the rest of the posts as well. It is an interesting group of artists of all sorts from all across Canada. The section it will be linked to is WIP Wednesday. Enjoy!

Oyster Catcher update

I am nearing the end of the background embroidery for Oyster Catcher. He is happily appliqued in place now looking for some trouble to get into. I wish I could applique sound. This fellow was one vociferous bird!! His peeweet, peeweet could be heard for miles.

I am still trying to work out whether to add a bit of paint under his feet to ground him a bit more. Since I fastened his feet down , he seems more permanent  but I might like the ground darker. We shall see.

My other concern is how to display him. I may just pillowcase a backing and add a little hanging sleeve. There is almost no actual quilting on this piece but I might add a light layer of batting , just to make it a bit more oomphy!As I have said before, watch this space : )

Oyster catcher so far

Well, this is kind of stuck together but I needed to see how much more needs doing on the foreground. I like the little shells. Too bad they are not limpets, but they are good. They actually came from Nova Scotia but I think they do the job. I want more dark under the feet of that bird! Otherwise, he is afloat . A bit of experimentation coming up. Basically, this is doing what I want it to do.