works in progress

 At present I have several projects underway.  The one pictured on the left is a wall hanging for our dining room.  
I have had this piece of linen in my stash for quite  a while and it is ideal for this purpose.  


The inspiration is all around me: the tops of the gum trees that I can see from my kitchen windows.

The pic on the right is a small piece from one of the high trees.
When the galahs are feeding in the trees they often break off twigs and small branches.  I found this one on the steps one morning.  You can see the little buds and a tiny flower.  


I have made a start by doing some machine stitching, couching threads as I go.  I also wound some metallic thread onto the bobbin and turned the piece over to stitch some of the lines.  Some hand stitched branches will be added when I can manage it. 

The leaves will be made using organza and you can see there are two sitting on the fabric.  I will bond two layers of organza ribbon together, using mistyfuse and then cut out the leaves which will be stitched on individually.  The flowers and gumnuts will be added once the leaves are in place.

While Ally (grand daughter) was staying with us she drew a page of vases and other shapes while watching tv.  She cannot just sit and watch:  so she draws.  


Anyway we decided to scan the page and print it onto a piece of dupioni silk.  Before printing we bonded some light stabiliser to the back of the silk to give it a bit more body.


This will be stitched to a cushion for her bedroom.  I am so thrilled that she loves to create and is confident enough to want to preserve her drawings in textiles.

The piece on the right is made using more of the fabrics I received in the recent EG challenge.  It is the beginning of a needlebook.