Tag: embroidery maps

Stepping Up My Embroidery Game

Dear Liza,

The French quilt was coming along. I mean, I kept putting in more crops row by row… but it was feeling very flat, and not very interesting.

The apple trees were an improvement, for sure. More color, more texture.

Then your Grandpa Nelson looked over my shoulder and said, “Where are the sunflowers?” Hmmm. Sunflowers. Because I was impatient to see the quilt finished, I had designed the symbols for the crops to be one color, simple, and easy to sew.

But I LOVE sunflowers, and I don’t want them to be easy. I want them to be pretty.

And they are! I love how the rows look, bouncy and bright. Trouble is, they made the rest look even flatter by comparison.

It was time to step up my embroidery game. I started with the lavender fields by Angouleme, giving them more color and texture.

So now I have had to re-think every single crop to make it worthy of the sunflowers. So far, the wheat and barley fields are coming out nicely.

I am so glad I did! The artistic process isn’t fast, but it sure is interesting. I’ll keep you posted.

Love,

Grandma Judy

French Map Quilt Update

Dear Liza,

I have been working on the French map quilt a little bit every day. Sometimes it goes smoothly and I get lots done. Other days, I hate every stitch and snip out the day’s work.

Such is the artistic process, I am told, and I am making progress!

I have laid in all the vineyards around Bordeaux, pastureland by Brest, and am now putting in all the apple orchards in Normandy.

The apple trees were very challenging. I tried several different shapes, but they all looked wrong. Finally, I just ‘sketched’ a few with stitches, and found what I was looking for.

I like that each tree has three colors! (….Now maybe I need to go back and add more texture to my other icons?)

Moving forward, I have about half the country to go, and look forward to the next set of conundrums.

Love,

Grandma Judy