Update on Nuno Felted Landscapes

Update on Nuno Felted Landscapes

I started working on some nuno felted landscapes in April. It has been stop and start on getting them completed. But I thought I would give you an update on the results so far.

I showed you Flathead Lake at the end of April. I got a few comments on perhaps adding more stitching to the trees. It took a bit of contemplation about whether I should add more stitching. The main reasons I decided to go ahead and add some stitching is to bring the trees more into the foreground and to hide some of the horizontal stitching that I did on the lake area.

I used a #12 variegated cotton thread and free motion stitched the branches. I do like the highlights that it added and it definitely helped cover the horizontal lines of “lake stitching”. Now I need to find a “matte” fabric and get it ready for framing.

 

This is another background. I decided to hand stitch this one. I’m not sure why since it is the biggest one. It should take me quite a while especially since I have become disenchanted with it. I was working on it steadily but that has gone by the wayside.

Here it is after stitching the distant pine trees.

Then I stitched more foliage and aspen trees. I am using seed stitch and using a variety of colors. I was thinking it was similar to impressionist paintings with little dots of color. I think painting is significantly faster than stitching. So this is definitely a slow stitch piece.

Here’s a closer look at the stitches. I think I got discouraged because I still had so much to fill. I will be adding some different stitches into the foreground but I have to get the further distances completed before I can start on the foreground. What do you do when you get discouraged in the middle of a project? I have been working on other stuff, so it isn’t that I am not doing anything. But this one is not very appealing right now. Any suggestions?

17 thoughts on “Update on Nuno Felted Landscapes

  1. Oh yes, the stitching on the branches finishes the scene – it’s lovely.

    No wonder you’re struggling with the second piece – it’ll need thousands of stitches to complete.

    How about the ‘eat the frog first’ idea?
    For those that haven’t yet heard of this, here’s a link to explain: https://blog.noisli.com/what-it-means-to-eat-the-frog/

    Perhaps fit in just 10 minutes very early in the day to stitch your piece? 10 minutes is do-able and after a couple of weeks you might see such progress as to be encouraged to carry on with it.

    1. Thanks Lyn, somehow I never heard “eat the frog” before but I do know that principle of procrastinating. I will give it a try. It certainly has not worked leaving it out to work on watching TV.

  2. The added stitching on Flathead Lake has certainly worked…it reminds me a bit of a Chinese painting, and I’m loving the seed stitch piece. When I’m doing something that involves a lot of hand stitching, or beading, I tend to leave the work out and pick it up as and when I have an odd half hour or so. Pretty much as Lyn suggested, limiting the time spent working on it. I’ve usually got a small pierce of work on my coffee table which I can stitch into while I’m watching (or at least listening) to the TV. Also remind yourself that we often have to go through the “not sure I like this” stage before emerging out the other side!

    1. Thanks Karen, I left this out on the coffee table for a month and managed to ignore it very easily. 😬 I think I will have to “schedule” it in every day. And it definitely is in the “not like it” phase.

    2. Ha, ha….you’ve found the flaw in my suggestion! I’ve had an unfinished brooch on coffee table for months…it’s become invisible!! I’m sure you will finish this piece and it will be stunning.

    1. Thanks Kathryn, I used dyed 3 or 5 mm silk gauze. On the lake one I used Dye-na-flow paint to add features including the tree shapes.

  3. It’s coming along. It’s good to have a few projects to work on when you need a break.
    Patience and time with determination and you will prevail.

    1. Thanks Lillian, it is good to have several different projects going at once. This one just needed a little rest. I’m back at it again. Just going to do 15-30 minutes each morning and it will eventually get done.

  4. The stitching you’ve done so far looks good. But I cant imagine filling in the whole thing. You’re probably right to schedule daily time to work on it. Not as daunting a task that way. I look forward to seeing it finished.

    1. Thanks Marilyn, I have decided to quit imagining how long it will take and just get on with it. I stitched about 20 minutes on it today and I’ll just try and do that every day until it’s done.

  5. Ha – I have a lot of half-finished, “don’t really like this stage” projects around! While I have worked through some in the past and they came out OK in the end, I now prefer just to stop and leave them for a few weeks (or even months).

    Just this week I came across a linen shirt that I started shibori stitching in preparation for dyeing with indigo a couple of years ago but never finished. When I looked at it I wondered why I had started stitching that pattern – it just didn’t look right. So I unpicked it all and have just spent the last couple of evenings restitching in a different pattern. It’s now finished and will go in the next indigo vat.

    I’m definitely not suggesting that you unpick all your stitches(!), but sometimes I think our nagging subconscious is trying to send a message…

    1. Thanks Kim, I have UFO’s too that never get finished. Or wait for a long time. I hope that your shibori linen shirt comes out as expected now. I have restarted the stitching and will be trying to do just 20 minutes or so per day. We’ll see how it goes.

  6. R
    I love this last piece but I think you are missing the beautiful rock formation the orange creates. Why not focus on that with your stitching instead of the not to apparent other stuff. I am a retired geologist so I just love this piece…

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