Reclaimed Silk Sari Ribbon

Reclaimed materials are always interesting to work with.  Silk Sari Ribbon is on the top of my list of these re-usables.  The strips are sometimes too wide to stitch with "as is," but most silks tear/rip very easily, and I can make several narrow strips of silk for stitching from a single length of the ribbon that comes in skeins for knit and crochet.

This example above is from a sample for a study of mosses that is part of a larger project (more to come on this over the next year, I hope).  Here you can see the grey and yellow silk ribbons couched in place, then surrounded by loopy, textured stitches in a variety of fibers.  Is it apparent that I am not too fussed by the restrictions of realistic color?

This next piece has been stitched on a ground of hand-made felt to make an impression of wind sweeping through the branches of a potted plant.  The heavier leaves are stitched with torn strips of ribbon, with mixed wool and silk threads used break up the blue with some scattered, less-solid leaf images.

 Silk, wool, and a little cotton scrim for good measure . . . It takes so little to pacify some folks!

Moss On Tree

This 6" square is my interpretation of moss growing on a tree, at v-e-r-y close range.  Stitched mostly in Walsh silk/wool yarn on a piece of hand-felted wool from dyed roving and scrim, it is layers of wool, silk, linen, and cotton, with tiny beads tucked in between the seeding stitches.

Water's Edge

This watercolor on canvas is combined with machine and hand stitch, appliqué, beads, stones, and a variety of very textured yarn.  It is a look at the little bit of marsh and sea we enjoy in a family trip to the coast of Georgia every spring.

The views of the canvas from the side are interesting, too.  The trip starts at the edge of the wall and turns the corner to the front of the canvas . . .

then continues on the right side-- as if the water's edge was too lovely to leave: