Creative Allsorts: Assessed sample update

Having thought about my plan, I changed my ideas for the sample and decided that rather than four or three sides, I would make it cylindrical and morph each 'scape' into each other by ensuring that the edge of each piece was similar in colour and merge well as the scene changes.

I also decided that rather than a church, I'd use a fairytale-like castle within a village scene. I found a castle to use and a Cotswold village - the photos are as follows;

Fairytale castle

Cotswold village

I then found a different image of Lulworth cove and found the Lulworth Crumble which is one of the top gusset in the UK. It is a fascinating shape and we are visiting it tomorrow so that I can get my own photos and a better feel for the landscape.

Lulworth Crumble

I think that the strata of the cliff which aren't high as they are falling and collapsing due to the understructure of the limestone and clay, are amazing and lend themselves to stitching. I hope to walk the path at the top of the cliffs tomorrow although the winds are expected to be quite high. I hope that I don't get blown off the top!

My third 'scape' is of local bronze age hills 'Cley Hill' and 'Little Cley Hill' which I walk/climb regularly and are very personal as I used them for my fitness training for Machu Picchu in Peru. I drew the scene from memory.

So I drew the scenes onto card

and then cut around the outline and transferred this to canvas to see if the cylinder would work. It did.

The cylindrical paper mock-up

I then transferred the image outline to Pelmet Vilene

and I used Bondaweb to secure this to the back of a large piece of calico.

The image was then drawn onto the front of the calico and the whole piece is now firm.

The base for stitching

There will be a flag and weather vane at the tops of the towers and rooks in flight attached by sprung wire. The roofs of the towers will be metal. Gulls will fly above the cliffs again on wire.

I have dyed some scrim with tea and onion skins to use in the piece. My next task is to select the fabrics and threads to make the piece and decisions as to how it will all be stitched. The cliffs really lend them selves to directional stitching in varying shades of light and darker stones.

I have been thinking that as the towers of the castle stand proud of the piece, I may reverse the image for the back of the two. I have also considered that it could be made as one piece and then curved into a cylinder along with the small towers.

I intend to make the three 'scapes' on the continuous piece of fabric some directly and some as appliqué. That is yet to be planned.

I have some photos for the birds and the little field mouse for the Cley Hill element