THROUGH HER WINDOW

Apparently I would rather do anything but straighten out the ghastly mess of embroidery threads crammed together tightly in a bag (my so-called "method" for "storing threads" for punch needle embroidery).  See my last post...Hah!  It's all catching up to me now, and I'm avoiding, avoiding, avoiding...hence I'm writing two posts in one day.

I just finished this embroidery last week, but haven't begun to think about the framing for it yet:

PATTERN "FROM MY WINDOW" © 2011 SARAH MCNAMARA OF The Paisley Studio. Valdani and DMC Embroidery Floss. 6.5" x 4.5" Completed 2016.

I bought the pattern around 2011 from the Paisley Studio in New York state, and completed the bird that same year--and then dropped it.  As I've been saying for a while now, punch needle embroidery projects are keeping me sane while I'm waiting to find out whether I'm going to be starting The Big Project (stay tuned for more on that).  Since The Big Project will take up all my time for months to come, I'm afraid to start any serious textile work so I'm basically knitting and punching tiny pieces.

Thus I am finishing up all the half-done work from the last several years.  Two weeks ago I pulled out this piece and began to think about a background.  Below is Sarah's initial photo that came with the pattern:

PHOTO CREDIT: Sarah McNamara

I admired her technique and colors.  I stuck to exactly what she did, with none of my usual tendency to make changes.  The big difference is in the eye of the birds--my bird looks a lot more surprised than hers!  That's the difference in how we each handled the eye.  Her bird looks meditative--mine looks a lot less settled, right?

The work was so much fun, but once I had it complete I could see it needed a background around it if I were going to frame it.  So five years after finishing the bird, I finally punched the background using Valdani cotton thread.  I'm pleased with the results, although in my own photograph above I notice that many subtle colors in the background simply do not show.  It looks like a much "busier" background in the photograph than it does in person.

Sarah has an Etsy site HERE.  I don't see any punch needle embroidery patterns on it as I'm writing this, but that doesn't mean she doesn't still sell them. Check with her if you are interested. 

I loved her title for this piece, "Through My Window," and enjoyed thinking about being able to see a bluebird out my own window as I punched.  It would never happen where I live now!

To round this off, here are some bluebird quotes.  I particularly enjoyed the contrast between the last two...

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A man who never sees a bluebird only half lives.
Edwin Way Teale

The bluebird carries the sky on his back.
Henry David Thoreau

An optimist is someone who figures that if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's the bluebird of happiness.
Robert Breault

The Bluebird of Happiness long absent from his life, Ned is visited by the Chicken of Depression.
Gary Larson