Cropping - Sample Final.

In the end, I added a little vegetation to the fence line in stead of adding brush as was shown in the original picture. This reinforced the motion begun by the path and drew the eye in a gentle curve.
Most of the areas have been worked or at least stitched around. As this was not  'thread painted' piece I could add stitching in differing amounts.

The discussion on how much to crop has come up before. I included here both the un cropped piece and my final cropping. This is the beautiful of photo shop programmes. Crop it to the size that feels right to you. Cropping can increase the importance of a section.  Sometimes you crop a lot and other times not at all. In this case I wanted the hanging branch to balance the volume of yellow field

un cropped

cropped

Samples

Sometimes the samples I make are for my own use.
Translating cloth art to cloth art is usually only a matter of material choices. Translating from a photo or acrylic/oil paintings, and watercolors usually deals with colour blends or light that is harder to reproduce in cloth.

And sometimes I just want to try a piece before I commit to a grander size.

This little art piece caught my eye.

The brilliant light is straightforward, but the misty background is not. In fact my mind tells me that the scene happens as a result of being 'blinded' by the light. Hard to reproduce that effect. This is part of deciding what to throw away, and what to keep.

After a few trials I did use some organza plus netting to dull the background, but it is no where near the illustration.
And while this piece would have done nicely with 'freezer paper', I'm all out.
Oh well, move on.

This is not finished.

A second cropping may be in order.

I'm undecided whether to add a lot of thread painting to the distant trees and the yellow field
But here is what I've spent a few days playing with.
And I can't decide about the little bush in the foreground. I'm more inclined to add some vines to the wire fence......

We'll see.

Ah Canada!

Never a dull Winter moment!
Ice storms, followed by 5+ temperatures, followed by 100 km winds and horizontal snow.

Even my Gnome friend is not happy.
Stay warm and sew into Spring.

Prepping for the workshop - Landscape

Now I can begin to think about the workshop.

This is a tad ridiculous as the date is not till September, but the guild wants the outline soon.

Though I've given this same themed workshop before with my friends, I already knew what everyone was interested in and we had agreed to break the contents down into manageable parts. There was no pressure to leave at the end of the day with a 'major' piece.

But my pupils' abilities are an unknown to me. Some will be very accomplished and some beginners.
How to choose a scene for all.
Well I can't, all I can do is suggest.

I spent the last week working on three samples of the same picture, showing different styles (levels of ability?) and different degrees of finishing.
What I'm hoping to do is pass on a few of the tricks I've discovered that makes the work go easier, faster and removes a number tedious and time consuming steps.

This was the simple water colour I based the work on.

The first go through was straight applique. No freezer paper here , just glue stick and pins. Simple finish with satin stitch.

The second paid a little more  attention to the actual material used. It was chosen to make it work for the piece. The finishing was only some thread work and imaginative meandering.

The third and final pieces used both stitching, confetti and hoop work, hopefully adding a realistic touch to the foliage, sky and water.

Think I covered everything? (No animals or birds)
Who ever chooses to take the workshop should be able to see something they would like to learn.

Two Weeks Later - Pre Spring Cleaning?

What have I've been doing?
The worst possible job.
Purging my workspace.
The snow is still coming down, I have fallen a few times on the ice and this winter is threatening to go on for at least another 6 weeks, (thanks to the groundhogs). I shovel snow and chop ice on the driveway..... almost daily.
It's enough to depress anyone.

This is often an awkward time of year. I can't ship any of my work out to be sold if it's entered into a show.
I need to hold on to samples if I've got a Trunk show in the next few month. (April)
And to add to all that, I have to write a description of the workshop I've been asked to do. (September)
I knew the addition of four bags of wool fleeces this year was the breaking point in my space.
I couldn't find anything........ and I had no place to put anything.
I couldn't find my worktop, and I had nothing to do.

I'm not happy in a mess.
I can't work in a messy location.
I was avoiding my workspace.

It was time.

I started by putting away every piece of cloth; yardage into drawers, FQ onto the shelves and scraps sorted into colours and bagged.
Then I went through every drawer and removed materials I will never use, went through every bag of cloth/clothing that well meaning people gave me to use and last, rooted through every large storage bin that held 'treasures' ? from years past.
What didn't go out in the garbage went to be recycled. Yardage went into a box as give away.
Suddenly I had a little elbow room. I could breath.

(And that space where my husband stockpiles and dumps everything...that space where all my friends and clientele politely avert their eyes .......I swept it clean too. YES !)

( I still have that disastrous corner I call my laundry room....another time)

Clearing my Worktable

All the entries for quilt shows are sent. And on time.
One required a letter of permission from the owners of the photographs but most were public domain.

Then I spent a week or so quilting a couple of works for friends. 'Canada's 150 Women' is comprised of 150 blocks with many small pieces. It requires a little more focus. It slows me down and I need more breaks but it was finished and delivered today.
The quilt maker added a border of red and wanted it filled with Maple Leaves. After cutting a stencil and working out the spacing I was all set. The panto I used  for the quilt was the popular Maple Syrup, from  Willow leaf Studio.

The second quilt was for a friend's grand daughter. She's been ill and lacked the energy to complete the quilt herself in time for her grand daughters birthday. So finishing it was my gift.