Birthday Gift for Mom

This is the gift I made for my Mom. (I have ironed this bag although it appears to have never been touched by such an implement.) It's one of those give away bags that we seem to get so many of and never seem to use. So I dyed it black and made the "stained glass" cut back applique with more of the fabric from Vicki (thanks again!). I have a second one started but didn't have time to finish it. It is done in the same pattern but with the colors opposite to this. It will be for my mother-in-law's birthday.

Here's a close up of the applique. I really like how Vicki's hand dyed fabric makes it look like glass. We are having company all this coming week and then my sister is here for the month of July. I hope to get some fiber work done but we'll see how I do this summer. Last summer I did very little.

Shibori Felt Mask

Here's my entry for the Felting Forum challenge this month. The theme is using natural fibers. I decided to try a shibori technique to make the wrinkles in the face. I sewed the wrinkles before fulling and then pulled the thread out after completion. I then finished it with needle felting. It was an interesting way to add more texture and I'm going to experiment some more with this technique.

Stained Glass Art Deco

I don't usually post twice in one day but I didn't think I was going to get this completed today. But since we are having a thunderstorm, we decided not to go hiking and I sewed instead. This is for a challenge with the theme of Art Deco which is not really my thing. I used the hand dyed fabric that Vicki so generously gave me. If you would like some of her fabric, she now has an ETSY shop so go check it out. This piece is done with cut back applique and is post card sized. The colors are bluer than this photo shows.

Here's a close up. I like the mottled effect of the fabric as it does look like hand blown glass. Thanks Vicki!

Framed!

I got the frames for my most recent machine embroidery pieces. Now to get them into the gallery and get them sold!

Here's the Blooms Trio - the lighting somehow wasn't good for this photo but you get the idea.

Pinon Tree

This is the piece I completed today. It is called Pinon Tree. I made the background quite some time ago with torn paper stencils and oil paint sticks. My plan had been to do just a bit of free motion stitching on the background and it would be done. However, I didn't iron my fabric before applying the paint sticks and there was a big crease in the sky which then caught more paint than the rest of the sky. So, there was a big ugly mark in the middle of the sky. So I finally decided to cover the mark with the tree. That's why the branch goes all the way across the piece.

You can see the mark if you look between the branches on left hand side.

Here's a close up. I think that the leaves needed more contrast between the colors. I used three different color of threads for the leaves but you can barely tell it. I needed a darker color to give the leaves a bit more depth. This piece took over 5 hours to complete because of the dense stitching on the trunk. So much for doing a simple piece! Note to self - iron it anyway, even if you're in a hurry.

Pfaff Art Embroidery Challenge

I am so excited! My work got accepted to the Pfaff Art Embroidery Challenge. Here is a portion of the letter I received:

"Dear Ruth,

The first selection of the works, made on the basis of the submitted presentation dossiers
took place during 2 and half days on the last week. Among the 112 entries that we
received, the works from 50 artists have been selected.

I am pleased to tell you that your application is successful with the work:
“Beneath Notice: The Landscape of Bark” . Congratulations!"

So if you are going to the Knitting and Stitching Show in London, take a look. Sorry there are no photos in this post but I can't publish the work before the show.

Hanging the Thread Sketched Felted Pieces and a Trio of Blooms

This is the back of one of my thread sketched felt pieces. I thought I would try a new method of hanging them. This is a thin board that I drilled holes in and added some screw eyes. Then I stitched it to the felt with invisible thread. I also added a label to the back. So now I just need to add the picture wire to the screw eyes and it can be hung. You can't see the hanging mechanism at all from the front and I'm pleased with how it works.

Here's a close up of one of the drilled holes and the stitching. It takes a bit of time to stitch them on but I didn't want to frame these so this was a good solution.

The next photos are the three machine embroidered bloom pieces that I finished. I made these backgrounds quite a while ago which are oil paint stick rubbings on muslin and then overpainted. On the machine, I used free motion and automatic pattern cable stitch. The inside of the flowers are done with mossing stitch (Ala Ken Smith's workshop in WOW). The center of the flowers is hand stitched.

Here's a close up.

And the second one.

Another closeup.

The third one.

And the last close up. I am planning on framing these altogether but I have to get a frame. So I'll take another photo when I've gotten them framed.