Hedgerow Fizz Stitchscape

Last week I managed to get out a stitchscape design that has been fizzing around in my brain for a little while, channeling thoughts of wheat fields filled with delicate flowers, and hedgerows overflowing with Cow Parsley, Foxgloves, Daisies and Cowslips. The two ideas don't necessarily go together in nature as most of the flowers are early ones and wheat won't ripen until late summer, but the two make for an enchanting image I think- and I get some artistic license!
I have quite a few linear prints in a yellow/gold colourway which were all perfect for this 'scape and I teamed them with some green prints that also had a vertical stripe thing going on which all hint towards growth and stems (it's in the tiny details you see).

I worked on it over the weekend, including over the Royal wedding- congratulations by the way to the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex, you couldn't have a better area of the world to have as your Dukedom. (Not that I'm biased in any way....) The bottom layer was left until last as I wanted to do something special to bring it alive but wasn't quite sure what it was that I needed until I was trying to find something for another project and came across my packet of Shrinkles!
I had used this stuff last year to make my Hollyhocks stitchscape and there were a few sheets left over for me to make some of my very own sequins. These are so easy to make, you just hole punch the shrinkle plastic and then colour in a circle about a centimetre around it. Cut these out and bake them in the oven on 180c for, quite literally, seconds until they stop moving and shrinking then remove from the oven and allow to cool.

The colours deepen as the plastic shrinks, and they will go to about a third of the original size. It's so exciting!!

I also had some flower stems in my craft box which I used when I used to make ribbon flowers, and I thought these would look very pretty muddled in with the rest. They remind me of unopened Daisy flowers.

So, here we have the finished stitchscape!!! I have called it Hedgerow Fizz, mainly because the hedgerow at the front really stands out, and it had been fizzing in my head for so long- I believe the title is also the name of an alcoholic cocktail if you wished to look it up.

The shrinkle sequins have been stitched down by trapping them with a bead sewn through the centre, and have been bedded in with some detached chain stitch leaves and two strand, three twist french knots. I have also included my customary bullion knot flowers, and three strand, various twists (to get the tapering) french knot stems. The green grasses behind the flowers have been stitched using two colours of Stylecraft Acrylic DK yarn which give a slightly fluffy appearance. It's a nice myriad of colour and texture I think. Very hedgerow-esque.

So the stitch run down for this piece is as follows: whip stitch, detached chain stitch, bullion knots, french knots, satin stitch, fly stitch, straight stitch, couching, seed stitch, cross stitch and running stitch. All the regular favourites!!