I have been focused on adding more dimension in felting. Started hand-embroidering a piece a couple years back with a technique called “couching”. I have lots of hand-dyed weaving thrums that I use. Wanting to work on my hand-stitching as well, I revisited this piece to determine if I could turn it into an abstract garden. The photo below shows a portion of the original couching that I decided to keep.

If you’ve done lots of embroidery work, you know that this is a slow process, but can be soothing and enjoyable. It’s commonly referred to as slow stitch in comparison to machine stitching. Prior to re-working this piece, it went through a second phase of Wetfelting to add my previously felted stones. I love rocks and stones in a garden so there simply must be some in this piece. In addition to stones, I added more wool to felt and grow the garden in addition to the silk grasses. A snake emerged from the original couching and my garden began to take on character and dimension.

I needed a theme for my garden…recently I stayed with my aunt in Virginia after the holidays. I was reminded of her love of gardening and plants. Over the years of visiting, I can not recollect a time when she didn’t have huge and healthy ferns! And who doesn’t love ferns?! So I decided I must have fern “fiddleheads” in my “couched” garden.

I have not decided if I am finished with the entire piece yet, but I certainly have enjoyed creating this piece and adding dimensional elements. The current piece with the sum of the parts….

The sum of the parts in Felting

Bits of Fiber in Collage

I love rocks! Felted and otherwise