Hillarys Blinds Country Craft Competition.

Picture heavy Post.

Hillarys Blinds have been running a Cut , Stich and Blog competition on their web site. The closing date is today so I'm just in by the skin of my teeth as they say!
I saw this competition mentioned on a couple of blogs but couldn't find the page on their site anywhere but  then my friend Sherry posted her competition makes with the links so I was able to find out all the details.
First thing to do was to send off for my free sample of material which there was a choice of 4 to choose from. By now though I had nearly run out of time to order so just got in in time.

I fell in love straight away with the beautiful Bird Parade from the selection.

 

I then spent a week mulling over what to make and at the very last minute changed my mind

as first decision  I decided was too easy. Well what's the fun in that and when have I ever taken the easy route!!

So first job was to nip down to the local charity shop for a picture frame.

I removed the old picture and glass and then sanded the frame down  to get a good key.

 

Next I needed to cut  the  material.

I hadn't realised till I spread  it out on the floor that the birds were in different poses.

Had a heart in mouth moment as I needed at least two birds to be exactly the same.

Fortunately two were. Phew!

I nearly left the frame as it was but decided to stick with painting it.

I used 2 tester pots in 'Blue Babe' and 'Teal Tension'

rubbing down between colours to achieve a distressed look and in some parts back to the original.

I steamed and ironed the fabric and attached to the cardboard insert  from the original picture.

 

Next I went off to my stash of beads and trims and selected just a few!

Next came the fun part building up the  fabric picture with embellishments.

Not too many as I wanted the original design of the fabric to still show through.

Here is the reason I needed  at least 2 birds o be the same.

I wanted the body of the bird to be in 3D and very slightly padded.

I cut just the body out and backed with an odd tree/branch piece.

I found some embroidery thread in a teal & turquoise which matched perfectly and stitched by hand.

Stuffed to give a nicely rounded shape.

Beaded detail of the tail.

I found some beautiful pearl shell shape beads that fitted the feather shape perfectly.

 

The finished picture.

I added a few beads to the flowers in the tree  for a balanced effect and then on  a whim

I added the dangly pearl heart bead.

 

Off to link up with Pixies Crafty Workshop #118 as I have used up loads of snippets from my stash.

 

Finally off to send link to Hillarys Blinds before I miss the deadline.