I worked a bit more on Shy Bird at Stitch Club last Saturday at the beginning of a fantastic two days of embroidery which I’ll blog about a bit later, and his wing is now completed.
Now that he’s firmly fixed as part of the family, he came out with us to lunch yesterday at Mount Pleasant Windmill, Kirton Lindsey. The girls and I had worked extremely hard all morning and I decided we deserved a treat. As all the sandwiches are handmade to order, it’s not the place to go if you’re in a hurry, but we love it and were happy to just sit and enjoy a rest and chat while I worked on Shy Bird.
In order to fit around the curves of his eyes, I started following the outline of his head in split stitch, using the same crewel wool that I used for his tail and wing.
When we got home, another hour stitching in the garden until I got rained off got me this far:
You may remember that he was originally going to be a travelling book piece and that I had to come up with something new at short notice. I decided to go for a piece of work based on a Sashiko exhibition I saw in York back in 2009. I transcribed my sketchbook notes and sketches…
…gathered some pieces of fabric in shades of green and machined them onto a piece of water soluble fabric. The first layer:
And then I completely forgot to photograph the second layer, which incorporates the interlocking v-shapes or the finished piece when I’d washed the stabiliser away, or the final spread. I shall just have to wait until the books return in September and try and get a photo then!
Under A Topaz Sky 