"To Nurture and Protect" Project

FIMO penguins I made to add to the bottom.
Almost done, need to add penguins and some other edge detail
Right side landscape, owl in tree and desert area
Middle landscape, forest and woodland
left side landscape, tropical


The Fyber Cafe challenge is almost done, we all got delayed, Thanksgiving & Christmas and personal issues. Hopefully in January the finished projects are due. We will still have to mount them on the stretcher bars covered with fabric. A few of the projects are coming along nicely, and others have good intentions, so we will see. I got the last details worked out on mine and today I finally got the backing onto it. I turned it "Pillowcase" style with an extra flap at the top to insert a piece of cardboard to support the circular design. I won't use the cardboard when stitched to the frame, but afterwards, I don't think I'll leave it on the frame. I top stitched all the way around the circle to give it a more finished edge. I have a few more bits and pieces to add along the edges, and some small areas that need to be covered, 'cause they came up short. The undersea area came out beautifully, I added silk ribbon embroidery, lots of beading, and regular floss embroidery, real seashells, it is busy with coral and embellishments. In the south pole area I added melted bits of turquoise chiffon, and streams of beads with white, pearl, clear turquoise, crystal and white snowflake buttons. The mixed group of beads flows across the bottom in waves. I found one pair of penguins earrings at Walmart but I had to repaint them, they were blue and sparkly. I made 3 extra penguins with FIMO clay, in black, white and yellow, I baked them too hot and the white got burnt looking so I had to repaint them too. I forgot to put button holes in them, so I'll just stitch them on around the necks. I can see the end of this challenging project. I put in a lot of detail, including a fortune in hand sewn beads and buttons. The non-traditional fabrics, velvet with cotton balls, silky polyester, glittery 1/4" netting, melted chiffon and wool needle felting, added to the whole concept. It is an exuberant expression of the environment and all the various creatures in it.