Matt's House...Stitching Finished

This sample for my "Home Portraits" classes at the Victorian Stitchery Retreat in Wichita, Kansas next November is all stitched up now.  I've decided not to actually finish the piece until after class, so students can see the back.  (Don't you always want to see the back of a stitching project?  I do.)

My brother has lived in this little bungalow for 20 years now and I always love going to see him there.  Working on his home portrait was almost like a visit...

I'll start with some detail shots and then show the whole thing.

More and more, I love including writing on my quilts.

A tiny bit of silver thread brings those windchimes to life, doesn't it?

I wanted to create a foreground to put the house "in context".  I used cut out printed fabric flowers, some vintage appliques, and a few vintage millinery leaves.  It was a fun compositional problem, and quite simple to execute, as it was all done by machine.....

...and I had to sign it.

The whole piece is 12" X 14".

What a great porch that is...and the roses in their pots are so welcoming...

There are actually a lot of design issues that I tried to build into this sample for the purpose of class discussion.  I am so looking forward to working with my students as they create their own "home portraits"!

Matt's House...Progress

Thank you, everyone, for your support and condolences regarding my missing quilt.  I really appreciate it!

While I was at Michillinda I got a fair amount of stitching done on the home portrait of my brother's house. It sure was nice, stitching away on the porch...

Here is an overall shot.  The print is about 8" X 10".
I still have the flowers in the foreground to stitch...and the borders around the piece of course to do.  But most of the work on the image is done.

Some details....

I have to use fine thread to try and keep in scale with the image.  The #12 perle variegated cotton used in the agapantha leaves seemed downright huge!

It was fun covering that latticed area....

The next week is going to be busy with my sister and niece coming for a visit.  Qwen and I are going to have some fun in the sewing room...  ;-)

New Project: "Matt's House"

I'll be teaching a class in "Home Portraits" at the Victorian Stitchery Retreat in Wichita, Kansas this coming November.  If you look at the sidebar of my blog here and click on "Barbara's Door", "Meg's House", and "Landscape Embellishment" you will find examples of some home portraits I've done in the past.

I want to have a new one to use as a class sample so will be working on a portrait of my brother Matt's house down in L.A.

Here are the threads I pulled to embroider the photo-on-fabric with, all ready to go.
It's good that this is a small and portable project, as I am off to Michigan this evening for a nice long stretch!

My dear neighbor there, Binki, has WiFi that she lets me use, but I won't be online much for the next week and a half.
So I'll see you when I get back!

...enjoy the blissful summertime......  ;-)