Wednesday, February 29, 2012

sewing and painting the birds

I made my lunch first thing this morning, so that when I came home all mellow from my swim and massage, I could sit down to eat. I only get about one per year, so I really try to savor the day.
Instead of jumping into my sewing, I wanted to try painting a starling. I know I'm often qualify  my watercolors as a bit amateurish, but that is really because they are. I don't seem to have enough discipline (because I'm usually sewing) to put in more practice time. It's the first time I've tried the starling, and birds are also new for me. One problem I had with the starling was how to portray the white markings. For all the white markings, it might have been best to use frisket, a liquid resist which can be rubbed off after painting; mine, however has dried up. So, I went ahead and painted the bird and added the white afterwards with ink.

On the robin, I finished stitching the branches, sandwiched it and starting the quilting. I stopped because I don't like how that's going. The swirls look more like waves than wind, so I believe I'll be picking it out. The small bit of blue on the side is a possibility for binding but I'll have to try others first. Of course I found the perfect bit, blue with orange and green dots but I don't have enough left.

When I sat down to sew, these lilac seed heads just outside my window with the sun shining on them caught my eye.

2 comments:

elle said...

ooooh, I hate that when it is perfect but not enough. Can you add a complimentary piece?

imquilternity said...

Lovely, lovely work - all of it! I think your paintings are wonderful and don't seem them as amateurish at all! It's all in the eye of the beholder, ya know!