It was a good choice to start a colorful project. As snow started falling over the weekend and covered everything with its powdery whiteness, it was a relief I had my colorful felts, fabrics and threads to cheer me up. Don’t get me wrong, I was waiting for the snow. But once it was here and brought with it days of thick fog one just started wishing for a bit of sunshine.

I spent a good few hours just dwelling on which color and thickness of felt to use, what thread would match. I ended up choosing a somewhat neutral colored felt for a base that is neither light brown, nor mossy green, but has some hints of mustard in it. I  felt it would give me more room for creativity with the appliqué and the embroidery. Looking at this base I felt the bird that was going to be best for the cozy project was the bird with the flower on its breast.bird embroidery felt

Although the bird design was originally inspired by a Scandinavian folk design the colors I ended up choosing for it are more reminiscent of Japanese art. The black, the red, the moss green remind me of postcards I saw depicting samurai warriors. Just a tad eclectic, I know.

You might be wondering what all the spools of thread are doing in the picture. Well, I must confess, I don’t use embroidery thread to embroider. My grandmother used to work as a seamstress and she amassed a huge collection of colorful threads that are now mine to play with. I feel it would be such a waste to buy brand new embroidery threads when I have all these pretty colorful things right at home. So I cut two to three strands of thread and thread them through the needle all at once. What I end up with is embroidery thread!

I am really hoping for a little break in the clouds and a tiny bit of sunshine over the next few days (OK, I’d be satisfied with a bit more light, I shouldn’t be too greedy). With the weather being so dark and gloomy one cannot see well enough to embroider. And I so want to continue my project! Well, if the gloom continues, and the weather just won’t listen, than I will still have plenty of time to dwell some more on the threads and stitches to use. One thing is for sure: the bird is definitely going to spread its wings and occupy my thoughts.