We've been having a rather peaceful weekend in our house. Yesterday was spent pootling around in my studio during the morning and then working on my Flowing River Stitchscape in the afternoon. This one is starting to grow on me, I admit that for a little while after the initial laying down of the fabrics I was wondering what one earth I had started. The colours were too vivid, the shapes not flowing, the pieces too large.... But now that I have nearly reached the top I am feeling happier with the colours, bold and bright is absolutely fine, and I can see the bullion knot flowers at the end of the tunnel.
I was thinking about one of the comments that was made on my recent, Heather Stitchscape, about the use of a bright green that I thought a tad too zesty. The comment was that the brightness of the thread made it look like sunshine lighting up the top of the hill. As this Stitchscape does actually include a glowing sun, I have tried to follow this idea through with a sense of dappled evening light, and have created two-tone effects in my seed stitch areas which I am thrilled with! You can't really see it all that well in the images where the thread is darker (above and below), but in the section where the threads are much lighter it shows up a bit more on camera.
I love the effect of this and will definitely try to use it again!
I really like these little areas of satin stitch too. Not all of the holes are going to be filled, some just circled with back stitch, but it still makes me want to check the texture by running my fingers over it. I was thinking perhaps they could represent rabbit warren entrances, or perhaps mole holes? It could be mole hill!
Also yesterday whilst I was in the studio, I started a new collection of mini stitchscapes. This time I was trying for a sunset feel where the colours are so intense and bold you can't look away from them, it's like looking at the surface of Mars! I'm seeing a few of these skies on my way home on the bus at the moment, and love the way it changes from orange to pink to purple. I have tried to limit myself a bit more on how many fabrics I put into these minis as I mentioned in my last post that I got a tad carried away and squeezed in lots of layers. This time I have restricted myself to a maximum of 5 layers, although the majority of them have 4 so maybe I can complete them a bit faster.
I bought the most beautiful sunset printed cotton fabric at the Olympia Knitting & Stitching show, and this is the absolute star of these little minis as the other colours have been chosen to match that specific strip, whether its pinks and purples or yellows and oranges.
Some of the minis are just sky (at the moment) and others go down to the ground with greens acting as darkened hillside. I have also tried a few more shaped layers to hint at forests although I'm not sure if I like those yet. I shall keep these on the back burner for now until I finish my Flowing River Stitchscape- which shouldn't be too long in the future!
Of course, today is The Mother's Day. We have already changed our clocks, eaten an enormous three course breakfast involving fruit salad, croissants and bacon & eggs, given The Mother her presents- washi tape, mini pegs, a helium balloon and a pretty trio of flowers in a jar. I have also bought tickets for myself, The Mother and The Grandmother to see the new Beauty and The Beast film in the cinema this evening which is rather exciting.
The weather is absolutely glorious- although pretty windy. All of the flowers are dancing and nodding their heads in the breeze which we have taken as a good sign and a celebration of Mother's Day.
Ziggy also gave The Mother a card to celebrate so is now feeling rather chuffed with himself and can relax in the garden for the rest of the day. It's exhausting having to watch other people open presents! Enjoy the rest of your weekend. x
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