Happy Valley Stitchscape

 

I finished this little project a while ago now and it was probably a relief for the poor thing as it has been loitering in several darkened cupboards for years! Initially the fabrics were cut and put together for a workshop at a Bridge Arts in Uckfield (now disbanded) exhibition, probably in 2017 or 2018 and this was a sad collection of fabrics that didn't get picked at the time. I sold several off as just little mini kits - including a 10cm hoop, backing fabric and four cotton fabrics - and still this one lingered. 

It did have a pal, which I turned into the Reflections Stitchscape at the end of last year, but as I kept coming across the pair of them I finally decided to do something about it. I did cheat very slightly and shared a fabric or two across the two hoops, but I have used a couple of layers twice using both the front and back of the fabrics to give paler colours or reduced patterns. For this piece I also added some green felts simply because they were in arms reach of my sofa position, leftover from some Snowdrop ATCs I had started at the same time. I like the padded effect they give though and the layering has made a really nice stream edge with little nooks in the bank. 

Little projects like this end up with me on the bus or thrown unceremoniously into my bag for my travels. I have an Ikea sandwich bag and in it I pop some scissors, a few threads and my hoop and needle. I really should carry a back up needle because if I drop the one and can't find it them I'm scuppered for the rest of the journey! 

The 10cm hoop is a nice size to just sit and play with, no layer is too lengthy and you can keep adding to it as you like. I had a further challenge in this because I kept taking it out and forgetting to update the threads I had with me so some of the yellows are brighter than I would have liked because it was all I had on me. The little ploughed wheat field uses a strand of the ochre colour with a strand of bright yellow to try and tone it down but also make it look different to the sun - neither was quite the right colour but together they work nicely. 

 

I kept changing my mind about what I was going to do with the sun. Initially it wasn't going to have any rays, just be a big ol' yellow ball in the sky but, after I'd worked a single strand of running stitch through the white layer, bullion knots at the top and a single strand blanket stitch around the blue fabric layer, I decided I was going to add rays in after all! And lots of them!

Sun rays are quite mathematical. You have a real skill if you can just work your way around the central shape and create rays that seem to emanate perfectly from the middle without going squiffy part way round. I prefer to hedge my bets and divide the shape up, adding in horizontal and vertical lines first to quarter the sun, then keep dividing those angles with more long stitches - once you've got in your 16th's then you can just fill in those sections. (I hope that makes sense?) On the bus I started with a couple of colours that I had and then added in more when I got home, including a metallic to help make the sun shine. 

The middle of the sun was initially just running stitches in one colour but, after I'd added so many colours into the rays, I went back and added a lighter colour to the running stitches and also to the french knots around the edge. I think there are four or five colours in the rays themselves, each using one or two strands. 

For the tree line I've made some big french knots using tapestry yarn, then filled it in with an olive coloured embroidery thread all over. I wanted to also create light and shadow so nearer to the bottom of the hill shapes I've added a darker green, and at the peaks of the hills I've added some metallic french knots so that it hints at the sun going down and only touching the very tips of the trees. It's difficult to see on camera but they do glint in person. 

The white fabric underneath the sun is exactly the same as the one the sun is physically sitting on, just using the front side to show more of the little beige pattern on it. On one layer I've done running stitch in a single strand as mentioned, and on this layer I've made a seed stitch in two strands so the overall effect is slightly more chunky. 

The wheat field I didn't initially like much to be honest, I think that the thread combination I've used is slightly on the brighter side which stands out a bit, even with the mingling of a darker shade. It has been edged with couched embroidery threads matching those I've used in the layer. 

The fabric itself is showing its reverse to dull the fact that it is a polka dot print but I have still used that print to work diagonal lines in back stitch between the spots, then made a french knot in each spot to kind of look like hay bales. A single strand of a paler thread (also used in the sun) has been used to work the opposite diagonal but to fill the channels with straight stitches meant to represent the cut stubs of wheat leftover. Red poppies have been made using one strand, one twist french knots so they are tiny. 

The water also uses the back of a fabric to remove as much of the pattern as possible but to keep the different colours just peeking through the stitches. Here I have made rows of running stitch using a single strand, but then gone over some of those rows with whip stitch to help give some movement and direction to the water. To reflect some light into it I've used the same metallic thread, again a single strand, and added a few rows of more running stitch. 

The reeds have been made with straight stitches worked in different thicknesses. They all have two strands of the olive colour but the darker green uses one strand at the back and two right at the front to make them look nearer and chunkier. (These also match the french knots used in the tree line to help bring the piece together.) 

Bubbles and ripples have been added with french knots, small tighter knots on the furthest bank and looser, large knots at the nearest one. To create a really neat french knot you need to have gently pulled the thread and sat the knot onto the fabric, before you pull the needle and thread through to finalise the knot. To create loose knots, with little swirls in them like I have at the front, don't sit the knot on the fabric but let it twirl loosely round your needle as you pull through. 

There are some little tiny beads also added right at the very front of the water too for additional texture. 

So there we have it. Finally both of these sad, neglected bundles of forlorn fabric have been made beautiful and can sit proud and happy on my shelves, or come on triumphant journeys to my talks and workshops! Little happy valleys.

A final stitch run down for this piece includes; running stitch, bullion knots, straight stitch, french knots, blanket stitch, seed stitch, back stitch, couching, whipped running stitch and beading.