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Completed nuno felted landscape with applique and hand stitch on dark gray background.
Grove of Trees – Part Five

Grove of Trees – Part Five

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My grove nunofelt landscape is finally complete. I added a bit of ‘grass’ in the foreground to balance all the lines at the top from the stitched branches.

Completed nuno felted landscape with applique and hand stitch.

I didn’t think that it needed a lot, but just some suggestion of the higher grasses. I also stitched down the loose edges around the entire piece. Now to move forward on getting it ready to frame.

Completed nuno felted landscape with applique and hand stitch on tan background.

I didn’t have a lot of fabric to audition to see how the background matte would look. This is on a piece of tan fabric. To my eye, it is too close in value to the piece itself and doesn’t match with the colors.

Completed nuno felted landscape with applique and hand stitch on medium gray background.

Then trying on medium gray. This is slightly darker in value but still feels very similar to the values in the piece. It doesn’t do it for me.

Completed nuno felted landscape with applique and hand stitch on dark gray background.

Next up is a dark grey background. The darker value is definitely better and brings out the light in the piece. I could use this color, it’s okay.

Completed nuno felted landscape with applique and hand stitch on dark red background.

Then I found a piece of dark red maroon/burgundy colored silk fabric. I won’t use the silk for the background but it was in the color scheme so I thought I would try it. The value is good again, making the light from the back of the piece feel more prominent. The color seems to work pretty well.

What do you think? Would you use a different background fabric color? Or do you like one of the ones I tried?

I’m thinking of naming this one “Golden Grove”. Any other name ideas?

Green nuno felted background with foreground center Indian Paintbrush flowers stitching completed.
Indian Paintbrush Applique on Nuno Felt

Indian Paintbrush Applique on Nuno Felt

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Slow progress is being acheived on my Indian Paintbrush landscape that I have been working on. With my other classwork and out of town visitors, it’s not as far along as I had hoped it would be, but it will get there eventually.

Green nuno felted background with foreground center Indian Paintbrush flowers stitching in progress.

I started on the foreground, larger flowers. The center one needed to be completed first as it had overlaps from the flower on the right. The furthest away petal is stitched down first and then other petals are added over top, working forward as I go.

Here’s the progress of the center flower. I am using a very small needle to avoid fraying the cotton organdy fabric. I also push the needle up along side the petal and then back down into the petal. Hopefully, the fabric doesn’t fray as much this way.

Green nuno felted background with foreground Indian Paintbrush flowers stitched in place.

Here’s the piece after all three foreground flowers were stitched down. I’m still thinking about whether the background flowers need any suggestion of stems. If I do add any, it will be thin thread in a running stitch.

 

Green nuno felted background with foreground Indian Paintbrush flowers painted in centers to achieve deeper values (close up).

After looking at the foreground flowers and comparing them to my original photo, I realized that I needed some darker values in the centers and by the stems to create more depth. I decided to use acrylic paint to achieve this. I dry brushed the paint on carefully in very small amounts at a time as I didn’t want to get too much on. It would be very difficult to remove or cover excess paint.

Green nuno felted background with foreground Indian Paintbrush flowers painted in centers to achieve deeper values.

And here it is so far. I will probably add some other shades of orange into the foreground flowers so they look a bit more realistic. I am also going to add some yellow green to the leaves. Then I think that I might add some suggestions of blue flowers where there are blue blotches in the foreground. Perhaps the common camas? How would you add suggestions of blue flowers? Stitching? Painting? More applique? Something else? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Close up of green nuno felt background with foreground stems stitched in place and orange petals completely stitched for center flower.
Progress on Indian Paintbrush Landscape

Progress on Indian Paintbrush Landscape

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I have been slowly stitching down the applique flower pieces for my Indian Paintbrush landscape piece. You can see prior steps here.

Drawn design on tracing paper with cut applique pieces next to nuno felt background with distant flowers laid in place.

I started by laying out the background flower applique pieces for distant flowers. I still haven’t decided if there is more stitching needed for stems and leaves. I’m waiting until I have the foreground flowers in place. I don’t want to add too much detail to the background.

Green nuno felt background with orange flower petals stitched in place with random straight stitches.

I used very simple straight stitching to adhere these small flowers. I purposely made the stitches longer than the fabric as Indian Paintbrush have a frayed edge. I tried to make the stitches random sizes and directions.

Green nuno felt background with foreground stems stitched in place and two orange petals stitched for center flower.

Next up was to add the center flower. I went ahead and added the two stems on the right side to make sure I had the flowers in the right place. All of the placement of applique pieces was done by eye. I didn’t try to mark where they were to go as the markings usually tend to stay when I don’t want them to. I appliqued the cotton organdy applique pieces in place with small stitches, a very fine needle, and one strand of cotton floss.

Green nuno felt background with foreground stems stitched in place and four orange petals stitched for center flower.

Then it was a matter of continuing to add pieces and stitching them in place. I listen to podcasts while I’m doing hand stitching as it is definitely “slow stitch”.

Green nuno felt background with foreground stems stitched in place and orange petals completely stitched for center flower.

The center flower is now completely stitched down.

Close up of green nuno felt background with foreground stems stitched in place and orange petals completely stitched for center flower.

Here’s a closer view of the flower and the stitching. It’s possible that I could add more detailed stitching over the top of the foreground flowers but I haven’t decided yet. I should have made a sample so I could try out some different ideas but I forgot and I don’t think I have any more green silk for a sample piece. That’s what I get for not planning enough!

Completed Nuno Felt Landscape Blue/White Background with Appliqued Birch Trees, Free Motion Stitched Branches and Hand Stitched Red Twig Dogwood Bushes.
Winter Birch Landscape Completed

Winter Birch Landscape Completed

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I have finally completed my winter birch landscape that I have been slowly working on. You can see the prior posts here if you missed them.  I had about determined to skip adding any extra snow in the foreground but then I decided I should try a sample of needle felting the snow.

Nuno Felted Background with Stitched Red Twig Dogwood and Needle Felted Snow Under Dogwood

And, surprise, surprise, it worked better than I thought it would. So I added a bit of snow and then needed to figure out the distant red twig dogwood bushes. (You can see the snow in the final photo.)

Sample of red twig dogwoods drawn with marker on to nuno felt background.

First I tried using a marker on my sample to see if I could get away with something easy. The thinner marker made a very light line and the heavier marker was too heavy. Plus, using a marker on nuno felt gives a very uneven line. On to the next idea.

Sample of needle felted wool thread compared to stitched wool thread.

Next, I tried needling the wool thread into the sample background. It didn’t feel like there was much difference between the stitched bushes in the foreground compared to the needled line on the top left.

I decided I would try a cotton machine thread (30 weight). The stem stitched sample on the left shows two different colors. The redder color is straight off the spool but I wanted the thread to be a bit darker and variegated. So I colored the thread by hand with a black marker. The photo on the right shows the thread before it was darkened (left side) and the thread on the right side of the photo has been darkened with a black permanent marker. It worked perfectly although it’s a little messy on the fingers.

Completed Nuno Felt Landscape Blue/White Background with Appliqued Birch Trees, Free Motion Stitched Branches and Hand Stitched Red Twig Dogwood Bushes.

So here’s the finished landscape. I used the machine thread for the distant red twig dogwoods and you can see the small amounts of snow that I added. I’m happy with it but I will put it on the design wall to look at to make sure it’s finished. Then I will need to choose a “matte” fabric and get it ready for framing. I’m thinking of calling the piece “Winter Color”. Or I could stick with “Winter Birch”. Which do you prefer?

 

Blue and white nuno felted background with tulle background trees (layers of tulle) and cut silk paper birch trees in foreground.
First Quarter Challenge – Winter Birch

First Quarter Challenge – Winter Birch

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I’m always up for getting two things done with one piece. So I decided to create a winter themed tree picture that I could prepare to take to the gallery which has sold three of my pieces. (Yay!)

Blue and white nuno felt to be used as landscape background.

I found a piece of nuno felt in my pile of felted stuff that seemed perfect for a wintry background. Since I had just finished framing The First Leaf, I immediately thought of birch trees again since the years challenge is to create the same trees in different seasons. So birch trees it is.

Blue and white nuno felt background with cut silk paper birch trees.

I cut the birch trees from my remaining silk paper and got the placement how I wanted it. I need to make more silk paper for my spring and summer birch trees. But this seemed a little ho hum. The plan is to add branches with free motion machining but I still thought it needed more. The left background felt like perhaps there were some pine/evergreens in the distance. Perhaps I could enhance that?

Blue and white nuno felted background with tulle background trees (layers of tulle) and cut silk paper birch trees in foreground.

So I added some layers of tulle in vague tree shapes on that side. But it wasn’t enough contrast and the tree shapes were getting lost. What to do?

Blue and white nuno felted background with tulle pine tree shapes on the left and birch trees cut from silk paper on the right.

Here’s the start of the next idea. Burn the tulle into tree shapes with a wood burning tool. This is just one of the colors of tulle I am planning on using. I will still be layering the tulle but hopefully, this will give a bit more emphasis to the shapes of the trees in the background without overwhelming the foreground trees. Once I have the evergreens worked out, then it’s on to some stitching.

Have you created something that works for our 1st quarter or year’s challenge? If so, we’d love to see it. You can upload your photos here.

 

Beginning a Large Nuno Felted Landscape

Beginning a Large Nuno Felted Landscape

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Having run out of already felted nuno backgrounds, I decided to try a large landscape and create it in a mosaic type of nuno process as opposed to one piece of dyed silk. I got out my remaining already dyed silks to see what was available. After looking at what I had, I decided on a sunrise or sunset with the sky being around two thirds of the landscape.

I started with a large piece of white prefelt, fluffed it up with a brush to make sure it would felt more easily. Then I added a very light layer of merino in the colors of the landscape. I used short fiber merino hoping it would help “glue” the small pieces of silk. I then wet down the wool before applying any silk.

 

I started with the sky and continued to wet down all the silk pieces as they were laid out.

I kept working my way down trying to make sure that there weren’t any completely straight edges on the silk. I did add bits of wool underneath the silk if there was more than one layer of silk. Once the sky was finished, it was on to the mountains and the foreground.

I added silk for the mountains and the foreground. I decided to add some green wool on top for some pine trees and to soften the edges between the foreground and the more distant mountains. Then on to felting.

Here’s the piece after it is partially felted. It did require a lot of careful rubbing but most of the silk stayed in place and adhered to the wool.

Here is the piece after being completely felted. I decided for now to call this piece Montana Sunrise. I am going to add stitching and more detail to the foreground but that’s for another post. The finished size of the piece is approximately 16″ x 30″.

Another Nuno Landscape Completed

Another Nuno Landscape Completed

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I have been working away on my nuno felt landscapes this winter. I always sell more work in the summertime, so it’s good to get ahead of the game and get work ready to be framed in the spring. So what to do with this background. I felt like the diagonal lines of color felt too “tie dyed” and needed to break them up. The colors reminded me of summer flowers so that’s where I decided to go with this background.

I played around with a variety of cotton fabric and cheesecloth and laid these out on the nuno background.

I added a small bud to the small, lower right hand flower.

I pinned the pieces in place and added interfacing to the back to provide support for the machine stitching. I could have fused them down but I find that I don’t like the way the fusing flattens the fabric and doesn’t allow “movement” of the fabric with stitching. This is a personal preference and it is easier to stitch if everything is fused in place but I prefer to pin or baste the pieces in place. I also was looking at possibly bringing some of the dark blue up into the area above the flowers. I tested this out by cutting some small bits of #5 perle cotton and laying it down to give the impression of blue flower stalks.

I free motion machine stitched all the green first. I used two different shades of green to give a little depth to the stems and leaves.

I used three different shades of thread in the centers of the flowers and two colors on the petals. I decided to bring a bit of the burnt orange down into the petals to give a look of a bit of shadows near the centers. Last, I added dark brown to the bottom of the centers which definitely helped define the centers.

Lastly, I added blue French knots with #5 perle cotton thread. I then stitched it down to the background “matte” fabric and laced it on to card. So it’s ready to frame. I decided to call this one “Summer Fireworks”. I have run out of nuno felted backgrounds so I guess that will be my next project.

 

Tamarack Trio Landscape

Tamarack Trio Landscape

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In my last post, I showed you this nuno felted background and asked for suggestions. Everyone’s ideas were so interesting and different than what I see in this randomly dyed piece. I loved hearing your suggestions but to me, this was definitely an autumn forest scene. I wanted to try and make it more abstract and less “real”.  So I started off just adding some lines in free motion embroidery that were to symbolize tree trunks. I forgot to take any in process photos. Once I get started on the machine, I get engrossed in the process. Then I got to the stage of “really ugly”. Do you find when you’re working that you go through that stage of “this is awful and I should just toss it”? But I kept going and ended up going more realistic than planned but that was the only way forward that I could see that would work.

I added tamarack trees, a fallen trunk and some foreground leaves in the upper right corner. The small trunks in the back left were too white so I took a gray colored pencil to them so they wouldn’t stand out too much. I then hung the piece up on the wall so I could look at it from a distance and to see what else it needed.  I decided to add more foreground leaves so they came down into the distant aspens in the lower right.

Here it is with more leaves added. That pushed the aspens back further into the distance and made the piece feel a bit more cohesive.

 

Here’s a couple of close ups of the free motion stitching. I don’t usually use the zigzag stitch when doing free motion but I liked the more abstract effect on the tamarack trees. If you don’t have tamaracks (also called larch) trees in your area, they look like pines/evergreens but their needles turn a bright yellow orange in the fall and then they shed all their needles. So they are a deciduous conifer. They are a gorgeous addition to the landscape in the fall.

I continued my new “habit” of finishing the piece at the time I made it. Here it is stitched down to a tan matting fabric and laced over matte board, another piece ready to frame. It does have some abstract qualities to it and I like the end result. Sometimes, you just have to keep pushing through and ignore that inner critic.

Service Berries Appliqued Nuno Felt

Service Berries Appliqued Nuno Felt

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I showed you earlier the nuno backgrounds that I had created. I decided to try using the idea of the layered photos that I created in Photoshop Elements.

So instead of going with what the background suggested (pine trees), I thought I would try some fused machine applique over the nuno felt.

I printed out my service berry photo and got out my light box, tracing paper and a pencil. I completely ignored the background in the photo and just concentrated on the branch with berries and leaves. I simplified the design as I went.

Here’s the traced design that I came up with for my applique. Now I needed to choose a piece of fabric, get out my fusible (Wonder Under) and transfer the design to the fabric.

Here’s the piece of fabric that I chose on top of the nuno felt. The photo is not the best as the nuno felt looks black. I fused the Wonder Under to the back of the green fabric with my iron. It’s easy to do but if you haven’t used fusible before, make sure to read the instruction of the type that you have. All of them are a bit different.

Once I had the fusible in place, I transferred the pattern to the paper on the back of the fabric. I had to remember that the pattern would be reversed when cut out and applied to the background. I used the tracing paper to do this by flipping my drawing over on to the fusible paper and drawing on the backside of the tracing paper to transfer the pencil line. This works best if you enhance the original pencil line with a softer lead pencil, I used a 7B. Once the pattern was transferred, I cut it out with a pair of short, sharp scissors. I left the paper in place until after everything was cut out.

Then I applied the cut out fabric to the background by ironing it in place. The fusible melts and holds the fabric in place so that it’s easy to stitch down and add details.

Before I started stitching, I decided to add a little thickened water color to get a bit more definition and shading in the leaves and berries. Then on to the sewing machine.

Here it is after stitching (free motion) on the machine. I used three different greens and a couple of reddish brown threads. It’s hard to get an accurate color representation in the photos as the dark red seems to throw the camera off very easily. This was a fun project and different than most of my other nuno landscapes. Now to figure out what to do with the other backgrounds. More to come!

Autumn Nuno Slow Stitch Update

Autumn Nuno Slow Stitch Update

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It’s amazing how my slow stitch project is moving along and almost complete. Twenty to thirty minutes of stitching per day definitely works for me and even though I have been working on this project for a long time, it has been a fulfilling project. I have enjoyed seeing the piece slowly fill in with thousands of stitches.

Here’s where I was the last time I showed you the piece in mid June.

I added a lot of foreground stitching. The bit on the top left shown here is still a little pale for me. It jumps forward in front of the foreground bush in my eye. So there will be a little more stitching there.

 

I added some running stitch in the distant trees with a “grey” thread. It leans very heavily to purple but really works well to give these tree trunks a bit more definition and to move them further into the distance.

Here is where I am now. It’s getting very close to finished. A few more areas of darkness perhaps. Lindsay asked me a while ago how I decide when it’s finished. What I do with a piece like this is to get to the point where I think it might be finished and then I hang it up on the wall in my studio so I can study it. I look at the piece from different distances and different angles. I give it some time to “rest” and then I add what I think is still needed based on the assessment I have done. Or I pronounce that it’s finished. What do you think?