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Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Chirpy chirpy, cheep, cheep

This week it’s all about birds.  New Zealand native birds, to be precise, as I’m starting work on my bird wall-hanging.  There has been a bit of fusing and stitching going on, and this is what I’ve got to show for it.   New Zealand has some very special birds, such as the kea,  the world's only alpine parrot, living amongst the tussock grasses on the mountain-side.  The kea is a large, strong-flying, olive-green parrot with scarlet underwings and a slender grey-black bill.

P1040986 
The kea

I’ve also stitched around some pretty little fantails.  Fantails use their broad tails to change direction quickly while hunting for insects, flitting from here to there at speed. They sometimes hop around upside-down amongst tree ferns and foliage to pick insects from the underside of leaves.

P1040986
Fantails

One thing I have learnt from stitching these birds down is that if you are not happy with how it is going – stop immediately.  Instead of plodding on to the end, as I did on some other birds.  I had used an older, thicker thread, which looked fine colourwise, but stitched up much too thick and looks ugly.  So I'll be spending some time with my unpicker, trying to gently remove the offending stitches without stretching the fabric.  Wish me luck on that job.

5 comments:

Glenda said...

Beautiful job you have done on these lovely birds Jenny. I do miss our fantails now we are living here in OZ

Nancy J said...

I did a lot of unpicking on that last freefall block, so I am sure you will not enjoy any of your time on that job either. Lovely birds.

Home Sewn By Us said...

Hello Jenny,
You are doing a wonderful job on these birds. I love the fantail - the detail is wonderful. ~smile~
Roseanne

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

Life like birds....love them.

Jenny said...

Many thanks for your comments. But I must be clear, I'm not actually appliqueing these birds, little piece by piece, I'm certainly not that talented to work so small. No, I cut them out of fabric and fused them. I think it is called broderie perse.