August TIF Challenge

I've skipped the July TIF Challenge for the moment but I know what I want to do. Hopefully I'll finish August quickly and go back to do July.

The August TIF challenge is about balance. Initially lots of thoughts went through my mind such as juggling, a see saw, tightrope walker, the ying and yang symbol, etc.

I decided that I wanted to do some Shisha embroidery (using those little indian mirrors) which I haven't done before. This lead me to think of using a paisley design as a different version of the ying/yang symbol. I wanted to express balance emerging out of a busy life with competing priorities.

The picture above is my August piece so far. I used a bottom layer of black cotton fabric. On top of that I have a layer of blue and purple wool fibres and difference pieces of wool yarn. On top of that the third layer is blue netting. I did free motion embroidery over the top of this. I then did creton, herringbone and chain embroidery using different shades of blue. I will probably do more background blue embroidery once the main images are done.

I'm ready to start the paisley designs. I haven't been able to buy any Shisha mirrors locally so I had to order some online. I'm waiting very patiently for them to arrive. I'm going to do the paisley designs in bright colours. I should be able to do the embroidery for the outlines of the designs while I'm waiting for the mirrors. I'm thinking that I might also include some beads in the background and on the designs. I'll have to see as I go along.

I like how the background has a painted look to it.