Kantha Stitching - a sneak peak

A little look at a project that has been in progress for well over a year. I pick it up, I put it down, I come back to it when I'm ready to work on the next installment.

Kantha stitching and a little bit more. A perfect travel or watching TV while stitching kind of a project. Here are some snippets.

Hand stitched farm scene discovery

Mum & dad have recently moved house & in the packing & unpacking a little hand stitched scene I made about 15 years ago was found.  I only have very vague memories of doing it, but it was around the same time I made the hot air balloons scene that has ended up on Little Imp's feature wall.

The calico background was painted with mum's water colours before the scene took shape over the top.

 I stitched over some real paperbark to create texture in the tree trunk and a mix of french knots, chain stitch and straight stitch to create the flowerbed, garden and orchard.

The main part of the house was another layer of calico stitched in place over the background.

Seems I was into texture and stitch even back then...

Hot air balloons...and some more owls

Little Imp's feature wall gets busier.

I hung all of the frames I have finished so far yesterday afternoon and this morning I received the payoff when Little Imp stood up in her cot and saw the designs coming together on her wall.
'Wow' she exclaimed, with the enthusiasm only a 21-month-old can muster at that time of the morning!

The Hot Air Balloons frame is an embroidery I did years ago (1993 according to the date on the back).  I used a design from a library book, but no idea who to credit it to.  Anyhow, it fits perfectly in one of the frames I have for Little Imp's feature wall, so in it goes!

The balloons, clouds and landscape were embroidered onto calico that I had dyed blue and then I remember using mum's water colour paints to extend the scene onto the white cardboard frame.  A long time ago...

And some more owls....