Fall Leaves

I’m working on a commission right now. The client gave me free reign with a couple of themes,and it turned out to want to be needlepainted with a little bit of stumpwork. And, of course, it’s huge. 11 by 14 inches huge. I framed it up on my scroll bars first, but they didn’t work well enough to keep the fabric taut. So now it’s stretched on my big slate frame, which I am grateful I ordered when I did… I had thought about a smaller size, but decided that I can always sew extentions on grounds to stitch smaller work, but it is hard to make a big piece work on a small frame (OK, impossible!).

So here it is, the beginning of the work. I’m actually one with the entire bottom ivy vine. I will take photos and post tomorrow. Each ivy leaf began by taking an hour to work. I have that down to 1\2 an hour each now, give or take. There are 36 of the little things. Then the stems. The big maple leaves are next to be worked. I’m looking forward to them, because they’ve got a lot of fall colors worked into them.

This is a fun comission. And in the background I’m working on a painting/canvaswork piece (mixed media in it’s true form) that should be fun. I’ll try to keep you posted on both pieces as I work. Feel free to ask questions! I love talking about process…