Birch Trees

I have another miniature piece finished. Needing a quick name, I've called it Birch Trees. Yes, very original, I know, but something else might pop into my head. I'm open to suggestions. In creating art, I find that coming up with an appropriate name,is  the hardest thing to do. I don't want something corny.

The trees and rocks are hand appliqued in place. Check HERE in a post from a few years ago (scroll down) to find out how I created the rocks for using in my pieces. The daisies were first hand stitched onto Aqua Magic water soluble fabric, spritzed with water and left to dry then stitched on the background fabric. The lupines were free motion stitched onto purple organza. French knots were used for the dandelions and tiny forget me knots.

Below is the piece before adding the extra flowers. 

Autumn Splendor!

A few photos for inspiration - in quilting and stitching. I take lots of photos and sometimes one of them inspires a new piece of work.

  

Iceberg Art Cards

A new batch of Iceberg Art Cards are ready!

The 'iceberg' is made from scrunched up painted dryer sheets and stitched onto hand painted backgrounds. The background is actually interfacing that is usually used at the top of drapes to keep them stiff. I used acrylic paint for the sky and water.

Make Your Mark!!

This year, I took over the job of librarian at the St. John's Embroidery Guild. So, my first job, was to order a few new books. One of the books was Helen Parrott's Mark Making, Fresh Inspiration for Quilt and Fiber Artists. This book was printed in 2013.

'The subject of this book is the making of stitched marks.'  There are no patterns to work from. Instead, the author shows how marks can be used in textile work. The book talks about marks, how to observing, record and collect marks, making marks on paper, making stitch marks, making it real and living a creative life.

She explains the crossover between stitch and drawing. Several hand stitched marks are discussed and demonstrated: running stitch, radiant stitch, spiral stitch, loop stitch, reef knot, French knot.

Next, machine stitched marks with the feed dogs up or down, is introduced. Some of the many variations of free-motion stitching include: single marks, massed marks, all-over stitch marks, continuous marks, layered marks, dots, webs and tufts. These various machine marks can be explored and expanded by using a variety of threads and fabrics, by layering them, changing their placement or combining them.

Coloured photos throughout the book demonstrate the various techniques discussed above. However, the real aim is to get you on the road to creating some original work by looking at the natural world. That's about it in a nut shell! It has given me lots to think about.