The Memory of Trees

The Memory of Trees is a small experiment in needle felting. Wool roving is placed on a base of organza. An Embellisher is a machine that looks very much like a sewing machine, but has no thread and does not sew. Instead, it has a group of barbed needles that are enclosed in a shield that moves up and down. The needles pierce the organza, pushing the wool through to the back. By moving your hands, you can guide the punching process until you get the results that you want. I used organza that had some shimmer to it, in order to get a more lustrous look. On top of the felted background, I used my sewing machine to do a little thread painting using my free motion foot attachment. A tree trunk with branches were sewn to prepare for the hand stitches. The leaves are hand stitched using embroidery threads. I wanted to keep this composition simple and not overwork it. So much texture can over dominate, if you don't know when to stop. I placed the circle on a felt background that I had found at a craft sale, and glued down a key that says "Memory." This can be seen on Off The Wall Fridays Right Click on Image and Open in New Window for a close up view.