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.
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.
Leave a Reply