Wednesday 15 April 2020

Yorklands - Final



I may fuss a bit.... but this piece is complete.
I'm really leaning towards a hard mount for this piece.

Monday 13 April 2020

Sunday 12 April 2020

Yorklands - Day 24

More Evergreens and the beginning of the Dogwood.
All this time has been building to the red.

I toyed with an number of things for the dogwood stem. As I couldn't go out and look for the perfect yarn....I settled (quite nicely) for some 'suede' I had found a few years ago at the thrift store.



Friday 10 April 2020

Yorklands - Day 22

We're on the home stretch.
Today I placed a maple still in its winter mode.
I had decided long ago against the fallen trunk with all it vines. I wanted that curtain effect but it took me a while to find a solution.

This solution took 6 hrs.
The branches are twisted yarn.



I think I earned a drink.

Thursday 9 April 2020

Yorklands - Day 21

Several hours.........a lot of little finishing things.  A few more evergreen boughs and final tacking where the area is finished.

The skyline is all secured and the reed bed to the left of the pond is filled.



Wednesday 8 April 2020

Yorklands - Day 20

After devoting yesterday to garden chores and a really fast grocery trip I spent today on Yorklands.

Right now I'm filling in foliage, layering more in some places and adding a few important single shrubs before I leave the evergreens.



There were 3 spots that received a lot or a bit.
On the left, the back wall has a new sprawling low shrub, the waters' edge has a cascading juniper?
On the right two major branches of pines were added. As these two are closer to the front there are more gaps along the grey branches where there are no needles.


The back wall shrubs use their addition to anchor the suggested tangle of trees and vine that hide the open field behind.


The shrub that hangs over the water sits in the broken gap in the wall's edge.



With the addition of these two branches I spent some time thoroughly anchoring all that had been tacked. Using a number of colours of green not only adds interest but it helps differentiate the different trees.

Monday 6 April 2020

Yorklands - Day 19

A short day's effort today.
The garden called loud and clear! The sun was warm and softened my soaker hose that had been stored tightly curled. It was nice to get them in the garden before things grew too thick.


These two are eager to go!

But the Yorklands moves ahead.
This time the left hand upper corner.




Sunday 5 April 2020

Face Masks

I took a break today and assembled 10 promised face masks.
They're in the wash and will be delivered tomorrow.


Saturday 4 April 2020

Yorklands - Day 18

Spent the whole time on one Juniper bush.
As it was the largest to date I wanted to break up the colour of the foliage. Changing the top thread works but it is labour intensive, so I thought I'd try some variegated thread.

Most of these threads have 3 colours. In this case the light third was not the colour I wanted. I used some of it and tried to steer the lightest colour to the tips but when I couldn't, I stopped the stitching and pulled the 'wrong' colour through the needle to the point in the cycle I wanted. Yes, I discarded a couple of yds of thread but it did tame the offensive colour.


Friday 3 April 2020

Yorklands - Day 17

There is no hurry so it's probably another week to finish this.

I spent 3 hours on two pieces of green.
It took awhile but I decided that the left side had a tree inside and tight against the stone wall. It's really bushy at the base and spindly near the top.
This was assembled in three pieces.





The second piece was a juniper? below the wall on the right side.
The use of 3 and 4 colours of green is what lifts it from flat.
It needs more... but that's today.







 And yes final cropping may take it all away....We'll see.

Thursday 2 April 2020

Yorklands - Day 16

Today was the day for some housekeeping.
There were a number of things that were beginning to annoy me so I addressed them today.
After I gave the rocks a dark wash a number of them loosened and were in danger of falling off. The answer was to net all the rock, and at the same time I gave them a pass of colour to lift them into a dimension item.
The snow as also lifting and it needed contouring as well. To much folding and carrying from table to machine was causing it to fray. I changed the rocks on the right hand side to reflect more of the derelict condition of the wall. Another covering with net white this time, and a stitching with mono filament.

Truth be told I haven't decided how to continue at this point .....so it was an excuse to do nothing........


Wednesday 1 April 2020

Yorklands - Day 15

Very productive day, even if the actual accomplishments seem minor.

First thing, I took some black and brown paint to the rock. Too bright! I tried a few things like netting or cheesecloth to tone them down, but paint seemed the easiest and most direct.

While that was drying I stitched a few 'fringes' of 'trees and shrubs' that I tucked into the very back. It completes the horizon line and then with some shards of cheesecloth glued to the surface and some paint, its done.


Another tree was added, a spindly one with one round of branch stitching.




And then I finished the day with a complete gnarly tree stitched whole as a badge.