Exhibition 2008 - Green Fields (3)

This is a long one...

so after giving up on the green field, I started to stitch the wheat field using my paper mock up to work out size and placement of the wheat ears.

But yet again any stitching I did was quickly unpicked. I'm glad felt is so forgiving. I'm keeping the straight stitches but have given up on the wheat ears. They looked too cumbersome in the scale I wanted.


So, I moved on to the 'pools' field, using blanket stitch to attach the blue silk felt, I then stitched around the shapes using running stitches. I liked the ruching effect.


I also joined the two pieces together using blanket stitch and weaving some wool. The idea was to create a fence/hedgerow effect and I planned to add some poppy and other flower heads on top.

But then it all looked a bit too busy, and I wasn't happy with the haphazard running stitch, I should have put more thought into the contours the land would take. So I unpicked the fencing, and the running stitches...

I decided to go back to my source material (part of my City & Guilds course) and look at my thoughts on boundaries (how to join the fields) and how to stitch the fields.

And i came up with this...


I decided to concentrate on the flowers and fields rather than the structures that bind and separate the fields.

I also ran out of dark yellow stranded cotton, so I haven't finished the straight stitch wheat field. I added some white daisies which I hoped to 'drift' across the 'pools' field but the white was far to loud, so I changed it to purple (its definitely purple and not the blue shade in the photo)...

Of course the whole piece looks top heavy now with all the poppies! I will work around it, as I am NOT unpicking french knots! The poppies are a mixture of handmade paper and red felt (from Toddler Girl's out grown coat)

I also tried something out on the green field which I think looks promising.

Its purple handmade paper, stitched down with back stitch.

So... bit of a saga really. But I'm enjoying the process. I may still spilt the piece again (it was originally suppose to be 3, 6"x4" pieces) and I love the colours. Very vibrant and hopefully not too challenging.

Toddler Girl's out grown coat also has a gorgeous lining, which I think I may use to back this piece.

But that may be a waste!