Made for @Ewulotta in the recent mugrug swap. We have a shared love of beets, how could I not choose this theme to celebrate our unique similarity? It had to be done, lol.
I tried free-motion machine embroidery for the first ever time, so much fun! I really love how the deep burgundy stitches make the background green batik look like actual beet greens.
Both of the dark batiks are from a trip we took to visit friends on the east coast before covid. They are full of wonderful memories, I was so happy being able to include them in a project for a friend.
One thing I didn’t know was that the fabric should be stretched in a hoop while stitching. I’d already fused all those carefully fussy cut fabric shapes to the background when trying the free motion stitching & was horrified at how bunched up everything became, I thought it was totally ruined! It flattened out with hot steam pressing and pulling, then I fused it to the thick felt backing to make sure it stayed flat. Scary for a minute there but I’ll know for next time. I’m sure it’s fine not to hoop for something like stipple quilting but this sort of dense back & forth sketchy drawing gathers the fabric up a lot.
