Another new approach

First of all, I’ve received some good news. My work has been
accepted by Touched in Scotland, an excellent local art and craft gallery. (http://www.touchedbyscotland.com)
They’re also planning an exhibition of my work, but because their schedule is
so full this probably won’t be until next year. That’s all for the best,
though, because it will give me more time to get some work ready

 The people at Touched by Scotland all preferred what I would
call my more arty work rather than the simpler, more straightforward
embroideries, and because of that I'm now concentrating on ideas for more
experimental and unusual pieces. Here’s another new approach, another way of
combining paint and embroidery

After stitching a rough outline of the subject as a guide, I
painted a rough background to the embroidery on white felt

The background painting, done over stitched guidelines

I also painted some fabric to use as an applique

Painted fabric to use as applique on the vase

Then I re-hooped the painted fabric and stitched the design

The finished embroidery with the applique fabric applied, and some of the guide stitching still in place

In general the idea worked very well, and the only thing that bothers me is
the colour of the flowers. White-on-white is a difficult thing to pull off, and I think I may
re-do this making the roses pink or red. But as a first attempt I’m very happy
with it