This week I have been working on some pieces for the ALQS3 swap organised by Kate.
I prefer to work on more than one piece at a time and then decide at the end which one I like best. I shall show the others as I go along.
This then, is contender number one. The wording at the bottom of the hanging says 'Folklore says a crow with red thread foretells fire'.
Take a look at the close ups at the bottom of this post to get a better idea of the detail.

For those of you who I know are interested in where my design ideas/inspiration comes from, read on.
I sandwiched a piece of cotton duck with recycled blanket and medium weight calico. I originally intended to create an abstract piece and for want of a better idea, machine stitched some wavy lines and a circle. Gesso was applied with scrim and molding paste was added in places on top. The raised circles above the wavy lines were made by pushing the lid of an ink bottle into the wet molding paste. This was followed by layers of several different colour acrylics – in all my usual colours of course. :)
When I had finished I felt it looked vaguely like a fiery landscape scene. I decided it needed a focal point and was just going to work some hand stitching on the surface. But anything for an easy life, I thought I would try a Thermofax screen print of a silhouette of something, possibly a flock of birds going along the top. After much thought the print turned into just the one crow as I was reminded of various country sayings that my uncle, a farmer, used to constantly regale us with as children, and the crow plus red thread one seemed perfect.
I used heavy body black acrylic for the print. Because of the raised edges of the circle the print just skimmed the surface so I had to fill the dipped parts in using a brush. The wording was printed on to dressmaking tissue paper using a laser printer and adhered to a scrap piece of gesso and painted cotton duck with Polymer Medium before being attached to the surface of the hanging. The entire surface was then given a further two coats of Polymer Medium.
This piece evolved as it went along, which is how I usually work – it used to drive my C&G tutor nuts!