Sunday, March 24, 2013

Serendipity Sunday–A Room with a View

This week’s experiments were really different.  As I said I would last week, I read ahead in this Jennie Rayment book and decided to skip the chapters on Fibonacci and Dyeing fabric in the microwave.  I’d like to play with Fibonacci proportions some day, but it doesn’t fit well with what I’ve been doing in this series.  The same is true with dyeing, added to the fact that I manage to create humongous messes when I dye and I really don’t think I want that in my kitchen!  Sarge says I manage to use every pan and utensil on the rare occasions that I actually cook, so I’m reluctant to expose my kitchen to fabric dyes!

So, what DID I do today?  Thank you very much for asking . . . Landscapes!

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I cut a piece of craft weight stabilizer and started layering scraps for the sky.

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Then I chose some green, gray, and brown for various landscape elements.  I prepared each piece by tucking, gathering, ruching, and so forth.  This was a very improvisational process, although I do think a little bit of planning would have helped! 

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I did quite a bit of sewing by machine, with liberal pinning as you can see here.  Then I sat down to hand stitch what couldn’t be shaped or anchored with a sewing machine.  This was the point when I began thinking about what the final piece might look like.  Yeah – it might have helped if I did that thinking earlier!  I have a tendency to work too much in middle tones so that there is not enough contrast to make a successful picture.  Although, now that I can see it through the photos, it doesn’t look as blah as it did up close.

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It does need a focal point, however.  I plan to embroider some flowers in the foreground and perhaps add a fence or something structural.  This may need to sit for a spell while my subconscious works on the question.  Eventually it will be finished and framed in some way.  It was fun way to spend a wintery afternoon.

Before I forget  - I promised to show last week’s finished piece.

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Here it is all stitched and curled.  I love the simple, clean look of it.  The only problem is that this beauty is eighteen inches square!  We don’t do decorative pillows at our house (too many dogs have eaten too many pillows), so what in the world am I supposed to do with eighteen inches??!!!

Well, for now, I can look at it on my Design Wall and enjoy it. . . . until I need to use that space for – er – designing. 

1 comment:

Sharon said...

that is truly beautiful... Such simplicity and grace....