Cotswold Stones again

I blogged in my post on 2nd April about my stitching of a sample in preparation for a further piece in my Geology Series, this time representing the gravels of the Cotswold Water Parks south of Cirencester.

Hand stitch sample

I've picked this up again in the last few days, keen to complete it before I begin some new and really different work.

I need thinking time for that and working further on this  has bought me that time as well as giving me the satisfaction of finishing off  an unfinished piece. I don't like having those hanging over me. They seem to cloud judgement.




I hand stitched further, playing with scale and colour over the silk painted ground ....

Cotswold Water Parks sample
Running stitch and machine quilting
on silk painted ground

Then today I experimented with free machining to provide contrast in scale and weight of stitch ....


There will be some changes to be made as the large piece develops, but I'm quite pleased with this as a sample.




Next, I will prepare and paint the large version and complete it to make a companion piece with the Geological Section work completed for the exhibition in Malmesbury last February.

I will take the piece with me when I next visit Scotland. I stitch on long journeys (my husband likes to drive!) and I always take some hand stitching to do when I go away - it's soothing and therapeutic and being away gives me time to think and work out ideas in a more peaceful way.