The panel I chose as No.1 is mottled lemon and white - inviting me to think about wattle. This one, I decided, would belong to the female scarlet robin. I stayed with stranded cotton and stem stitch.
I put her on a barbed wire fence and was thinking of filling in above the fence with wattle and below with wheat, when a friend suggested chicken wire. Invented in Norwich in the UK, it is widely used in Australia, and a brilliant suggestion from my friend. I went home and spent the evening embroidering chicken wire.
I added branches of wattle.
I was assisted here byAnnette Rich's book on Australian wildflowers which has designs for three different varieties of wattle. I used stem stitch for the elongated leaves and French knots for the blossom. 
I am very pleased indeed with this panel. My friend Sue's suggestion of chicken wire was brilliant and has captured exactly what I wanted.
Two down, seven to go!
3 comments:
Yes, the chicken wire is fabulous, with the wattle above like that. Graphic, and meaningful too! This is really turning out well, Jillian.
Thanks Monica! Much appreciated.
so delightful, never knew that chicken wire came from the UK
Post a Comment