Soley Cove Flowerpot

This "flowerpot" is located at Soley Town, a beautiful spot just at the base of Economy Mountain, N.S.  I took this picture a year or so ago and decided it would make a good project to stitch.  

Using the photograph as a guide, I traced around the main pieces in the photo and cut those from fabric.  The rest of the details (like the trees) were added using different weights of Aurifil thread. 

Mostly I stitched with 50 weight thread, but some 40 and 28 weight found their way in there as well.

It honestly hasn't turned out too far off, and I am pleased with the results.

Hubby and I went back to re-photograph the flower pot this spring, visiting again at low tide, and witnessed the might of the powerful Bay of Fundy tides.  Sadly, that lone tree extending at such a jaunty angle, has washed away over the winter.

We will get this one framed up and hang it in Five Islands. I think next on the list will be to try stitching the islands. 

Free Motion Machine Embroidery Workshop

There are a couple of spots open in my "Back To Spool" workshop on August 4 here in Amherst, N.S., as part of the Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival.

It will be a day of free motion stitching to create free-hand machine embroidered appliqués which can be used in your projects. (All you need is a regular sewing machine, NOT an embroidery machine.)

More information available here: https://sewkaren-lycreated.blogspot.com/2022/05/back-to-spool-workshop.html  To register, please email.

Sunset Parament

Yesterday, the latest commissioned church parament was dedicated at First Baptist Church in Amherst, N.S.  This piece was finished several months ago, and I have shown snippets here and there during construction; now I can share the entire piece.

Commissioned by the Lusby family in memory of their parents, this piece is for display during funeral services.  From discussions with both church and family, it was decided that a sunset would be an appropriate background.  My feeling was that the piece needed to be very, very simple, and calming, so I was conscious not to busy-it-up.  To this end, a lone tree silhouette seemed appropriate, and I knew just the tree. This one, on West Victoria Street, has always caught my eye, with its spreading, gnarled, branches. It is doubly appropriate as it overlooks land formerly owned by the Lusbys, and grows very near the family home. You can see the snow on the ground when I took this picture, perhaps around February.

After removing the background in the photo, I was left with quite a simple outline to stitch.  I decided to create an appliqué in free motion embroidery, that I could then easily add to a pieced background.

I used a variety of weights and colours of Aurifil thread, laying down the base in 28 weight and adding layers on top of 40 and 50 weight for finer details.

It turned out looking very like the original tree.

Previously, I had done a bare bones mock-up of the tree trunk to audition on different backgrounds, and sent it to the church and family to approve.  This is a digitally printed Hoffman fabric...

...and this is a background I made with vibrant Island Batik fabrics, sewn using a curved patchwork technique.

All parties agreed on the batik, so I proceeded to fill in the tree branches.

The parament measures 20-1/4" w  24" long, and is backed in a rich red satin.  The label reads as follows:

"The simplicity of the design invokes a feeling of serenity and peace, and features a lone, thread-painted tree silhouetted against a vibrant marsh sunset. The tree is inspired by an actual tree located on W.Victoria Street, Amherst, overlooking property donated by the Lusby family as the future site of the Cumberland County Hospice. Above the tree, two small birds are seen heading heavenward."

The project was finished and photographed in April...you can see we still had snow.