going home

the heart piece has been parked for a while, i think it is complete but now needs to be edged - so while i think about that i'm starting some other projects

with the Guild Home project in mind i treated myself to 2 days with Anne Kelly at Art Van Go -her approach and use of pre-loved txtiles appealed to me - what a good idea this turrned out to be for me!

i went along with a vague idea of basing a piece on my childhood home and am really happy with how quickly the idea took shape with Anne's suggestions and guidance

our house was an easy one to produce an impression of, but what also came to mind easily were some of the elements i wanted to include and how to do so - all concerns about whether or not i had  brought the right materials were quickly banished -

 the limited selection i had was more than enough and also helped to simplify the choices - 

 the house emerged quite fast and by the end of the day i had my layout

the pear tree went through several variations, finally being made up of layered elements which really give it texture - i'm just hoping that i won't struggle too much with adding further hand stitching, i feel it needs some brighter green foliage - pears will also appear, but maybe not on the tree - but the bullfinches will be in the tree as a reminder of mum's pleasure at seeing them every year, along with her disappointment that her view was blocked by an unnecessarily high wall and dad's unreasonable fear that they would eat all the flower buds - we were deluged with pears every year and the wall finally came down only a couple of years before moving to a new home, thanks to a builder friend who listened sympathetically and acted promptly! good old George

after hours on the sewing machine it was a relief to start some handstitching

 before time and energy ran out

back home, progress continues, i am full of ideas on how i want to progress and think i have found a perfect way to top the image - 

a vintage fabric which reminds me of some curtains we had looks like just what i want for my roof -

some family fabrics slipped behind the lace remind me of the stained glass in the "garden room" -

the front door has lace windows echoing the etched glass

now to get the printer working on my bulfinches!