Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Thank you to Two Talented Ladies


Good morning Friends ~ I want to thank SweetBay for giving me permission to take a photo of hers and turn it into a needleworked piece. She is a wonderful photographer and I always love seeing her country, color filled gardens, her critters, etc.

The other lady I wish to thank is Jeri Landers of Hopalong Hollow. She has really inspired me with her lovely work. I recently clicked the link in her sidebar, Join Me At the Old Worktable, and was greatly inspired by her story of how she is creating her latest book.

I started yesterday afternoon on this embroidered piece.. It's already taken almost 2 hours to do this little bit. I am working with one strand of embroidery thread for finer work. I added a black bead for his eye, and that brought the work to life. This is a real joy to work on, although it is a bit intimidating.

Thank you Ladies for the inspiration you have both given me.

Here are a couple of pictures of this newly started piece. As usual, click on pictures for a larger view.









Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL


16 comments:

Becca's Dirt said...

Wow! I didn't know you were so talented. That is beautiful. I used to do cross stitching. Haven't picked up a needle in probably 15 years. The old eyes aren't so good anymore even with glasses it's hard to see those little squares.

L. D. said...

This is going to be so beautiful. That is quit a talent to work from looking at a photo. Great job.

F Cameron said...

Yes, you are so talented! Beautiful work! I ONCE did needlepoint (Dumbo for my son when he was little). I enjoyed it, but never did anything with the piece, so I didn't continue the hobby.

Victoria said...

Wow..that is so beautiful..the threads look so real like feathers..gorgeous! Can't wait to see it all complete..just beautiful! Magical!
Kiki~

Lona said...

Wow! It is going to make a beautiful embroidered scene. I love how you took it from a picture to recreate it. I have not embroidered in years. I use to enjoy it and crocheting. I think I burned out on the crocheting though. LOL! You are doing a beautiful job and please keep us updated on your progress.
Lona

Nina Suria said...

Hi again Flower Lady and thank you for dropping by to my humble blog. I just link you.

Youre such a talented lady :)

Debbie's Garden said...

Thats going to be beautiful! And very special. years and years ago I tried to do one from a picture of my house. I got about half way done. Kids got bigger, life got more busy. I must have finally tossed it away, unfinished and disappointed.

sweetbay said...

Thank you for the kind mention. Your piece looks like its going to turn out beautifully!

Unknown said...

Amazing! I would never be able to do anything remotely like your project without lines and a color map. I am in awe!

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

Add yourself to the talented ladies group! It's just beautiful! I agree with you about both sweet bay and Jeri Landers, I enjoy both of their art/photography.

gld said...

When I began reading this post, Ode to Nature came on and the birds were singing. What timing!

I had no idea you could interpret a picture to embroidery without a pattern. That is truly a skill and talent. It is coming along beautifully. Be sure to show us when it is finished.

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Good morning everyone ~ Thank you all so much for your kind comments.

This project still has me intimidated, and I hope it looks good when it's finished. I just work one stitch at a time.

I first took a copy of the picture and turned it into a pencil drawing in my computer, then printed it out. The I laid my fabric over the drawing and traced it onto the fabric. I then printed out a larger version of the photograph as you can see in the first picture, so that I can look at it while I stitch. The piece measures about 3"x3", the little bird is about 1 3/4" high.

I didn't work on the piece yesterday because I was at work at my real job.

Today I have off from work, then work again Fri and Sat. Maybe I'll get some embroidery in today, among some cooking and baking. Rain is expected today too, so it looks like it will be an indoor day.

I think all of us have talents, they are just different from one another. That's what makes life interesting, and each of us unique.

***************

Becca ~ Cross stitch can be fun, the counted cross stitch is harder to me, and I've still got a nice piece I never finished. I do wear stronger glasses for doing close work. Even then, I have to take breaks to give my eyes a rest.

L.D. ~ I keep looking back and forth from stitching to photograph, sort of 'winging' it as I go.

Cameron ~ I bet Dumbo was cute as a needlepoint piece. Don't feel bad, I have pieces I've done but not done anything with myself.

Kiki ~ The beauty of working with one thread is that you can make it look like feathers, at least I hope it does. The little piece turned magical when I added his bead eye.

Lona ~ It is so easy to get burned out on projects. I crochet, knit, embroider and I think that might help with the burnout, doing different things. Add gardening, cooking and baking to the mix, and it all works together somehow. When I feel a burnout happening, I just take a break and usually I'm ready to go when the mood strikes again.

Nina ~ You are welcome. I think your blog is lovely and look forward to visiting regularly.

Debbie ~ I feel your disappointment. Maybe you'll pick up needle and thread again one day. Start small and you'll be surprised and delighted.

SweetBay ~ When I saw your photograph of this sweet little bird, I just felt like he'd make a great little needleworked piece and he is. He is a delight to work on and I thank you very much for permission to use your photograph. You are welcome for the mention. Your blog is always a joy to visit.

Tufa Girl ~ I do have lines, as I traced the photo onto the fabric and I keep looking at the photo as I work. Listen girl, you make wonderful artful pieces that take time and effort. We all have our talents.

Catherine ~ It's funny how I don't think of myself as all that talented. There are so many artists out there who do much more detailed and wonderful work. Each time I start a project I'm intimidated. It's getting the first few stitches done that gets the ball rolling.

Glenda ~ Serendipity. That is really neat that you had that little magical moment of music with the post. My pattern is on the fabric, as I traced it onto the material. I'm not so hot at drawing freehand.

*************

Thanks again all of you for your really encouraging comments, they mean a lot to me.

FlowerLady

Skeeter said...

I can see a bluebird on the material! I find it so neat how you can transfer from a pic to material. The bluebirds are one of my favorite birds. We feed them meal worms and keep them plenty of houses to raise their families each year. In return, they eat pesky bugs...

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

You are so talented. My fingers could never produce a beauty such as these birds.
Sam

Anonymous said...

Gosh! That's beautiful!

Jane

Sunita Mohan said...

That's beautiful! And you're right, the bead does add personality.
I think we're more alike than one would guess. When I was about 16, I enlarged a picture of a bird that I had found on a cover of Reader's Digest and made a cross-stitch piece of it. Of course, I was goaded into completing it only because everyone insisted I never would!