Gentle Giants Stitchscape

It's finally finished! This poor stitchscape, neglected for so long, has now transcended the hoop and, once framed, will join the rest of my growing collection of embroidery pieces. I started this one in October last year and stitched all of the background blue layers before setting it aside and frantically working on some Christmas pieces. When I tried to go back to it, the inspiration that had started this piece (which I remember as a midnight scribble on a sheet of paper in my bedside drawer because it was keeping me awake) was hiding from me and I had what can only be described as 'embroiderer's block'. A horrible thing! I fully understand frustrated writers who cannot see where their story line or their characters are headed.

After several months of guiltily avoiding looking in the direction of the discarded hoop, I forced myself to go back to it and re-examined all of the layers I had completed, the rough satin stitch splodges, the cross stitched polka dots, the french knot polka dots, running stitches, back stitches, seed stitches and bullion knots. Several of the trees had also been completed with diagonal back stitches lines, whip stitch and pekinese stitch outlines, french knot textures and single strand wavering back stitch lines, all following the direction of the patterns and the imagined textures of the bark.

There really wasn't that much for me to do but for some reason I was quite nervous about it. The initial spark of inspiration that had been so vivid had faded slightly and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to capture the scene I wanted to create. However, I eventually manned up and picked up the needle where I had left off, continuing with my fly stitch hexagons (which take forever!) and cross hatched straight stitches, bullion knot edges and whip stitch over running stitch.

The trees looked a bit strange before the branches were added, like great long white fingers stretching up to the sky trying to capture the moon. The  branches themselves are very rough satin stitches randomly worked along the tree trunks, and with smaller two strand straight stitches angling off as twigs. At the base of each branch are a cluster of white french knots to help bed in the ends of the straight stitches, and I have worked a few lines of straight stitches in DMC Mouline Silky white thread, which almost glows in the dark, to help give the effect of moon-kissed branches. More of this thread has been worked as twigs directly off the trunks themselves and I am very pleased with the overall effect  as it really highlights the silvery light the moon casts over everything down below.

I think that even with my several month long blip, I have managed to do this piece justice and it matches the image that was initially sparked in my mad creative brain. The idea of standing in a woodland surrounded by giant trees stretching upwards, and gazing at the moon and the stars. It is quite an excitingly textured piece too with fourteen different types of stitch!! I am looking forwards to seeing this one framed.