Well, we’re back at last after a really enjoyable trip around the Southwest of Britain. We spent some very enjoyable days on Dartmoor, which Sherlock Holmes fans will immediately remember as the home of the Hound of the Baskervilles. It’s surprising that even after more than a hundred years, this story still has a real presence in this part of the world
Anyway, it’s back to normal life now, and to some essential work on things to exhibit at the local art shows this summer. I mentioned some time ago that I wanted to include some more local wildlife in these pictures, and one of the most famous of our local animals is the red squirrel. These lovely creatures are endangered in the UK, and even in Scotland they’re far from common. So we’re very lucky to have a family of red squirrels in the forest not far from our house, and they come by all the time to raid our bird feeders
Here is a simple design of a single squirrel launching himself from one pine tree to another, which is how we usually see them. As I’ve mentioned before, machine embroidery is a wonderful medium in which to re-create the soft, furry coat of a small animal, and the technique of dense overstitching works well in this little picture. Unfortunately the scan doesn't pick up the details very well, but if you saw the stitchout "in person" you could see the realistic furriness clearly
Red squirrel in one of our trees
I have a problem. How do I download the file
He is a very nice red squirrel, on a pine bough, looks like he is using it as a spring board to another tree. They are probably like ours, a more gray squirrel, that hops from the trees and swings unseen except for the rustle of trees leaves.
Your pine boughs are very nice, I like an outline design, I have quite a few shirts that I have made with just outline figures. And, they sew quickly and can go on any color shirt. Solves a lot of color problems.
Linda
Wow, I love how you’ve captured the moment of motion. My father always did love the red squirrels more than the black and gray ones; said they were much more fun to watch at play, cavorting in the backyard trees.