Stitches, Paper Flowers, and More Stitches

Interesting fungus on a tree in the Ottawa Experimental Farm

Several rather unique Irises

And beautiful Peonies

I went walking in the Ottawa Experimental farm a couple of weeks ago and the peonies and irises were in full bloom.....beauty!


A while back I stitched a few tiny embroideries with the plan of setting them into silver plated pendant trays.    Here they are  - not sure yet if I like them or not.

Each one is 1" x 1.5"

Close up of stitching

I haven't been feeling too inspired so I went through some older sketch books the other day and found this doodle of a mermaid.

I had been wanting to stitch this one on fabric for some time but forgot about it.   So I traced it on white kona cotton and started to stitch.  I have been at it for 4 evenings and here is my progress so far.  It will be 9" x 12" when finished.

I am using a larger hoop but wish I had a stand because it is awkward.  I may end up using my small hoop.

I hope my fingers hold out:)

I also started another smaller piece that I had painted onto fabric a while back (One thing that seems to work for me when I can't seem to get motivated to start from scratch, is to go back to old photos, sketches or UFOs and see if they move me to action).  This one will be 5" x 5"

Last Monday we had some fun at a paper making workshop with Out of the Box fibre artists.  Suzanne, from our group, taught us how to make paper flowers, envelopes and beads using magazines and fancy papers.  It was great to play and socialize.

Here are some envelopes we made - the polka dotted ones are mine

My flower and some beads I made from magazine pages - very cool!!

Suzanne's lovely beaded necklace and scary spider!

Lucy's striking flower and envelopes

Here is Suzanne holding up her spider

 Suzanne was very generous with her time and knowledge and we had a great day!

I'm linking up with  Off the Wall Friday    Check it out!!

If you don't like your artwork - turn it on its side or even upside down!

I am almost finished setting up a work space.  I moved my machine in this week but still have things scattered around waiting to be sorted.  It is certainly a full space (note to me - don't buy anything more - except an ergonomic chair) but I think it will work.  Here are some photos of the boxes of fabric lined up on my lightweight shelves, all nicely labelled, and another of the whole room.  I created file boxes for shows/exhibitions/past/present/future - promotion - tax info - organizations - suppliers - and a box labelled 'interesting venues to follow up with!

 

Today I am having a new furnace and water heater installed and finally I have succumbed and am getting central AC.   It means that this warm little room will still be accessible in the heat of the summer.

So I am still not doing a lot of stitching but I managed to finish this little piece of hand embroidery on a hand painted background.  I wasn't sure about the orientation.  Originally the heavy flower was in  the top left corner but I think I like it the other way round (second photo).

  I am also working on stitching my felted piece which started out as a sunset sky but when I turned it sideways I saw shadowy shapes of women.  So here is my new piece.  Still a work in progress and trying to have some fun with it.

I'm linking this post to the Needle and Thread Network   See what some Canadian Fibre Artists are doing this week.
I'm also linked up to Off the Wall Fridays   More beautiful work to see!