SAL

[Sorry this is late…I thought I had it scheduled for yesterday, but apparently I didn’t press the right buttons. 😩 ]

The last SAL was three weeks ago. I have to apologise for the skimpy post that is was. It was also the day when we Melbournians found that we were in for six weeks of strict Stage 4 restrictions. Not a good day for thinking about anything but what was ahead of us. I have written a post about it, if you would like to catch up. I won’t go into it here, because I want to concentrate on my work.

Lately I have been scraping acrylic paint onto brown paper, and then tearing it up. I found it makes the most wonderful rocks. I glued the strips onto paper, then I wondered about sewing them onto material. You can see that it works well, but but not a good as I would like. When sewing onto paper the paper moves more freely under the foot of the machine. However the material was gripped by the teeth, and only wanted to go in straight lines. I would prefer a more organic line.

Last time I showed you where I was up to ~ couching and random cross-stitching. The difference with the other piece I was working on was adding the material shapes under the embroidery.

Oh, another difference is that it is much smaller, so it is finished. Yay!

I have pinned it onto a stretched canvas, to give a rough idea of the finished look.

I enjoyed it and am currently working on another ~ to show next time!

I am part of a group of stitchers that share their personal stitching work every three weeks. Go and have a look at the wonderful work that is being done all around the world. Everyone is doing something very different, but always interesting.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Deborah, Mary Margaret, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ, Jenny, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen

SAL #5 ~ Portsea Cliff

This is where I got to last time…

Now I can reveal the finished work!

As you can see I worked on the sand and cliff. I wanted the sand to be unobtrusive, so I chose to do it in a simple half stitch, which linked it into the sky. The cliff, however, needed to be more wild, to create the texture that I love.

(The yarn is another merino wool yarn from Fibreworks. This one was specially dyed for me. It is a colour that, surprisingly, occurs in Australian landscapes. It is wonderful for eucalyptus bark.)

Progress photo…

The next stage ~ the trunk ~ was trickier, and to be honest, I am not sure it works quite as I wanted it to. I am not sure how the branches merge into the canopy. Any thoughts?

I tried to include the background colours too. I suspect my problem is that I hadn’t thought it through ~ the original planning was incomplete. That area may well come out. However, I value your thoughts.

One of the things that I do love about this work is that it has brought be back to being creative after many months of obstacles. It has helped me realise that while I am not ready to get back to paint, pencils and paper, I am ready to solve creative problems (which I love doing!) with something that I can pick up and put down with ease.

In fact I have already begun my next SAL project. More of that next time.

There is a great group of creative stitchers involved in this SAL group, organised by Avis. Do drop into their blogs for their latest SAL posts. Prepare to be amazed!

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny,Hayley, Megan, Deborah, Mary Margaret, Renee, Jenny, Carmela, Jocelyn, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, Connie