Thursday, April 26, 2012

Roses & Bird Applique

Four Weeks Progress.....


My applique is coming along slowly because I've been getting outdoors to enjoy the beautiful weather & garden.   I actually should confess that I've gotten outdoors to do a lot of weeding.   I'm trying to keep positive about weeding in that I'll find inspiration while I'm doing this type of gardening.  So I put on my gardening cap, gloves, & camera in my pocket to capture Mother Nature's gifts from the garden.

This bee enjoys the Spanish Lavender......


Surprisingly, these petunias below grew in between the pansies.  I planted the petunias in this spot last year.  I would not have paired these two plants together but, they like each other & are getting along just great.  



I found the inspiration I needed in a potted plant on my patio.  English Ivy is a great filler plant for containers & as an applique subject.   When I started the applique on my table runner, I only drew a little bit at a time.  I'll reveal the entire drawing as I finish sewing the section I'm working on, in a later post.   




Drawing from my sketchbook......


So, I hand stitched the veins......  Although this two strand embroidery floss shows up well below, it's too much for the entire design & lighting in my dining room.  I tried another color.....scroll down below to see photo.


This lighter color may not look as defined as the darker floss above.  However this color looks better with the entire design, when placed on my dining room table.  Some areas of your applique look best when enhanced with a small amount of embroidery.  Otherwise, your results will just look heavy & overdone.   Veins below done with one strand of embroidery floss in a light yellow green color.  Of course, with your own applique you may choose whatever color is most pleasing to you.


And so the hand stitching continues............on a different day.   It's a gorgeous day again, & I need to continue with the outdoors.

I'll post some progress in a few days.......keep stitching a little at a time.

Enjoy your day!









 

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