Contest Day Five (and Six)

I missed a day of blogging... obviously. I'm sorry to all of those who were at the edge of their seats waiting for the next step in the contest piece. I literally was so tied down to this piece the end of the week was spent stitching and occasionally eating.  The good news is it WAS completed, ON TIME, and has been turned in! I'm thrilled to have gotten it finished and am glad to have entered, regardless of what happens next. (Doesn't everybody always say that when it is obvious they want to win or they wouldn't have entered in the first place?) Anyway, I'll catch you up with the hand stitching before showing you the finished piece. No scrolling ahead.


I decided to be a little rough with the sand and water. I added some thread to the top of the work to give it a texture and give the appearance of not being so 'flat.' I also beaded the sand heavily, and did a little with the wave lines too.

The heron was my nemesis. I put him off because he terrified me. I didn't want to do photo transfer because I felt like it needed to be different from the background. I started by creating the body with fused fabrics.  I began to stitch over top of the fabric to create the detail of the heron.

And I hated it. SO, I ripped all of the stitching out on Friday, knowing I had to complete it Saturday, and decided to fall back on the outlining like I have done on other pieces. So after, not even kidding, an entire day of hand outlining I completed the heron and was much happier with the image. 

Finally I added the reeds and rocks at the bottom with a combination of fusing and embroidery and completed it with my "R." Luckily, my father built an awesome frame for me and while Brent painted it (yes, I am so spoiled!) I attached the backing and finished the piece!