I'm back!

(And I just can't figure out why my returns are giving me double spacing - so please bear with me while I investigate what to do. Anyone with a quick answer?)

I'm back now, so full steam ahead!  

We had some problems with Hubby's hydration issues which took us to the local hospital a couple of different times and then up to Mayo, Rochester, Minnesota for a week. For those of you who don't know, he survived a major blood clot in his small intestine almost 13 years ago (causing surgeries that left him with about 40" of small intestine), which then caused a cascade of other problems over the years. 6 years ago, he got a new liver, and 5 years ago, his brother gave him a wonderful gift of one of his kidneys. All is well now, or so we hope, and we go forward, as always looking for the sunshine after the rain.

I've been busy, but I can't tell you exactly what has taken up our days. We still have the house on the market and we're dreaming of the new one in a maintenance provided community. It seems our conversations are always wandering back to the new house...what if we moved this wall, what if we change the shelving, which way should my studio face. All good things to iron out before the building begins, right?  

I also finished the client wall hanging that was commissioned a little under a year ago. I thought I would finish it in June, but I just wasn't happy with some of the process, so I kept moving things around, cutting holes and adding just the right stuff until it looked like I had envisioned at the start. The client received it Monday night, and she was sooooo pleased, as was her hubby. I am always on pins and needles before they get their work, and this one was no exception. They have it on their wall, and it looks perfect, I must say. 

The process went something like this:

Selecting the fabrics - all the client said was that she wanted red...

I started the red skies/leaves and the tree trunks

I got extra help joining all the one inch squares

And even more help deciding some of the colors

Collection of scraps (orts) for the leaves

Making the ortwork with Sulky Solvable

Adding the ortwork leaves to the forest

It still needed something, so I decided to define the seasons starting with Spring

Then summer

Fall foliage

And winter delights

Seed stitch embroidery for all the seasons in appropriate perle cotton colors

Beading, beading, beading

My initials are signed in embroidery too

I love the handwork part of it all

And of course, Clyde has to add the finishing touches of cat hair!

And voila!  Forest Seasons is complete!

I hope you enjoyed the process as much as I did.  Merry Christmas to everyone, and to all a good night!