Completing the wood avens leaves

With the outline and the central veins done on the leaves, I now needed to fill them in using split stitch shading.

To try and give a naturalistic look, I'm working the shading from the centre, around the veins, to the edge, rather than from top to bottom or side to side, say.  To start, I added stitches in the darker shade, 1411, in the centres of the largest leaves:

I then added a band of shading thread with one strand on 1411 and one of 1410 around this, and in the centres of the remaining leaves:

And in close-up:

Finally, I filled in the rest with the lighter shade, 1410:

And again in close-up:

I tried to keep the angle of the stitches radiating outwards, to try and give a sense of shape to each leaf – hopefully this makes it look a little more life-like.

I'm making this sound so easy, and I suppose the process is pretty straightforward, but there's a lot of work in these leaves!  Still, I'm making good process - the next sheet is the last one for the bottom panel.

Wood avens leaves

There are sets of leaves to go with the wood avens flowers, and it's those that I'm doing next.  I'd done two sheets of transfers for them, but they're smaller than some of the others, so I decided to iron them both onto the same piece of linen:

This has lead to a slightly odd layout, but never mind.

As they need to work with the existing flowersI'm doing them in the same shades of green, Madeira stranded cotton 1410 and 1411, though I'm also using the slightly darker 1412 in one place.

As usual, I started by buttonhole stitching around the edges, in the lighter shade, 1410:

As the leaves are quite a complicated shape, I needed to take extra care to keep the sawtooth edges nice and sharp.

As you can see, on the transfer the veins in the centres of the leaves are marked on; I stitched these in a single line of split stitch in the darkest shade, 1412.  To make sure the line was quite definite, I used three strands rather than the usual two:

And in close up:

With those in place, I can now fill in the rest of the leaves.

More ferns

The second sheet of ferns next.  I have to confess, I don't like doing them much.  They'll look fine as part of the overall design, but on their own they're a bit dull, and pretty tedious to do.  So I'll just say that I've done them, and leave it at that.

And here they are:

The next sheet is a bit more interesting, you'll be glad to hear!

North East Art Collective

I said the other day that I had some exciting news, and here it is: some of my work is forming part of the opening exhibition for a brand new gallery!

The North East Art Collective has only just opened, in Eldon Garden mall in Newcastle upon Tyne.  It features a wide and eclectic range of original fine art and prints, and some wonderful art craft, mainly glass, ceramics and some terrific wooden furniture.

All three of my Spirograph panels are included, along with two character cushions.  One of the panels was waiting to be hung when I went in earlier today, but here are the other two and the cushions:

Here's Spirograph I close up:

And Spirograph II:

I never did get a decent photo of that, so this is the first time you've seen it completed!  And finally, the cushions:

So what do you think?  John, the gallery owner, has done an amazing job against a very tight deadline, and I'm sure we all wish him the very best of luck with this new venture.

If you're ever in the centre of Newcastle, pop in!

Wood avens - petals and centres

I've finished the second sheet of wood avens.

After buttonhole stitching round the edges of the petals:

I added the first band of stitches in the palest shade.  I put more in than last time, to give a slightly more pronounced effect:

Then a band with one strand of the paler and one of the (slightly) darker colour:

Then finally finishing off the petals with split stitch using the darker shade:

Finally, I filled in the centres with French knots in green, and the darkest yellow I'm using on these flowers, a shade darker than the petals:

Here's the full sheet, completed:

More wood avens

Next, another sheet of wood avens.  There are just five on this sheet rather than six like before, so it should take a little less time to do.

Otherwise, it's the same as before.  Using Madeira 1410, I buttonhole stitched round the edges of the sepals (the green bits):

Then a band of stitches in 1410 around the edges:

Partial filling in with a thread formed from one strand of 1410 and one of 1411, to start the shading effect:

Then complete the rest with 1411:

Here's the full sheet:

Petals next!

Finished ferns

Sorry it's been such a long time since my last post, I have been busy, honestly!  Actually, that's been most of the problem - I've been too busy.  Anyway, I'm back now, so I can start to bring you up to date.

To begin with, I've finished the first sheet of ferns.  Previously, I'd completed the buttonhole stitch around the edge; after that, I used the darkest green, Madeira 1412, to work a few stitches in the centres of the largest leaves:

This was followed by stitches using a thread formed of one strand of 1412 and one of 1411, both on the largest leaves and in the centres of the rest:

I then finished the leaves by filling in with split stitch in just the lighter shade, 1411:

(Sorry the background fabric looks a bit ripply, I forgot to take a photo until it was off the frame.)

So here are all the ferns on the sheet, completed:

They're a bit dull compared to the flowers, but they should work nicely as part of the overall design.

I should have some very exciting news for you in the next few days, so watch this space!