WIP - An Indian Summer Garden - Part 6

Here's the peacock, all finished. I've used a host of stitches here - satin stitch, padded satin stitch, outline stitch, fishbone stitch, chain stitch, whipped chain stitch, herringbone stitch, long-and-short stitch, french knots, running stitch and, of course, straight stitch.

I hope I've been able to capture the colourful resplendence of the bird here. Next up, the entire piece.

WIP - An Indian Summer Garden - Part 5

After the myriad foliage, it is time to bring the royal bird to life - err, thats the poet in me! I love the bluish green ring around the deep blue center of a peacock feather, and my endeavor was to capture that in thread. The center of each feather is in french knots, followed by a bullion knot around it, and nested blanket stitch encircling them. The stem of the feather is in back stitch, and the fine wisps in fly stitch.

WIP - An Indian Summer Garden - Part 4

This design has three clusters of leaves, which I chose to work in trellis. I think, when working a trellis, the choice of colours is of utmost importance, for there needs to be a balance between the colours that complement each other, and one or two colours that "pop-out". Here the bright orange couching catches the eye immediately, while the dark and olive greens complement each other. The outer border of each leaf is worked in coral knots, while the leaf buds are worked in bullion stitch.

WIP - An Indian Summer Garden - Part 3

There is another vine that surrounds the peacock in little bursts of colour. I've worked the vine in chain stitch. The flowers are a combination of pistil stitch and french knots. The leaves are padded satin stitch, seed stitch and stem stitch. Nothing complicated, yet eye catching!

WIP - An Indian Summer Garden - Part 2

Entwined around the tree branch is a vine with delicate orange blossoms. I love the way the vine, its leaves and flowers create an intricate mesh of colour.

The vine is worked in back stitch and stem stitch, the leaves in fly stitch and the flowers in nested laze daisy.

WIP - An Indian Summer Garden - Part 1

Secret Garden - An Inky Treasure Hunt and Coloring Book by Johanna Basford in not an ordinary book. For every page you turn to will inspire you in many ways. And for embroiderers it is a virtual treasure trove. My first pick out of it was a gorgeous peacock perched on a tree, surrounded by blooms. 

Although the peacock is yet to be embroidered, the foliage around it is done, so over the next few weeks I shall give you glimpses of these. The above is the first of the series - the tree branches done in close rows of stem stitch, the leaves in fly stitch and flowers in lazy daisy. 

Chinar leaf - thinking of fall colours!

To be honest, I've never seen chinar trees during fall. What a glorious sight it must be, to be surrounded by a million hues of green, yellow, brown, red and orange! Some day I will travel to a place just to watch the chinar trees change colour. Until then I can find solace in embroidering a few coloured threads on my canvas, what?