Second Place

This ‘almost mixed media’ piece custom-designed by Joni Stevenson for my local ANG chapter workshop was a huge amount of fun and a great adventure into the ‘do what you feel like’ part of the needleworking world. Using paint, Wonder Under, cheesecloth, netting, chiffon, beads, and knitting yarn in addition to traditional cotton floss, I created my impressionist interpretation of falling autumn leaves.

After painting all the materials, I part ironed/part melted the Wonder Under onto the canvass, and then stitched over it. The detached leaves are made from chiffon or cheesecloth or were needle laced. The tree branches were created by couching the knitting yarn onto the canvas. Additional leaves are fabric/Wonder Under-based.

As a more structure-based stitcher, I was a little concerned about how much I was going to like this class. However, Joni helped me give myself over to a ‘go with your artistic flow’ attitude where I found a new vein of creativity for my needlework.