#10 Circular Stitching - Fascinating fungi

 Month 10 of 12 months circular stitching saw the brief look at fascinating fungi & the forest floor in late Autumn when fungi are abundant & varied.  The previous ones are all listed here ...

The brief was to make fungi in our 4 inch circle. The suggested stitches were the fly stitch combined with the pistol stitch. 

It was suggested to make 3 smaller lightly padded Suffolk puffs then turn them over for the stitching to be done on the round back, suggesting the gills of the mushrooms 

I remembered that I still had these 3 beaded & stitched moss shapes from a stitch along on another group  - making zen is always so inspirational.

The stitches had been challenging & varied - several stitch combinations in each shape & they were still on a hoop along with the various green threads I had used.  They are perfect to combine with this challenge because fungi & moss live side by side on the forest floor. 

I cut out the 3 shapes & decided to add them to the already cut shapes I had prepared for the year. 

I came across this forest scene stamp in my stash & thought - why not? 

It is my understanding that heat will set the ink from normal stamp pads on fabric so I stamped the forest then heated it to set (supposedly.) 

The 4 inch circle was drawn on this stamped background then the cut out moss shapes positioned along the circle. 

I made 2 brown Suffolk puffs, turning the brown fabric around so the reverse was used as it was a gentler colour for the fungi. 

I decided to use the gathered side & as suggested, whip stitched the edges to give it a slightly raised look & then whipped some of the folds to give the structure of the underside of the fungi. 

 The 3 shapes were stitched on to the circular shape, some beads in the same colour dotted around the remaining circular shape. 

We had made these tiny flower shapes in our Blossom stitching in August so I combined circles in green & brown fabric to make the flower shapes & thought just 3 was needed on the forest floor. 

I am not sure about this but I lightly felted in some wafts of felting wool to suggest leaves & canopy on  the stamped background. 

The 3 edges were machined, the stiffener added in & the last edge stitched. It was overstitched by hand with blanket stitch as required so that the final task after month 12 will be to join them - we do not know that detail yet but I am confident mine will be fine as I have followed the binding instructions. 

It is interesting doing something quite different each month, we are encouraged to be bold & original & this is what I have done. 

Edited note - I was pleased that I pushed the boat out & incorporated stamping in this effort but it felt unfinished so I thought - it is mine completely so I am going to try something else. 

I used Ikea fabric pens to lightly add in details on the stamped background to give it definition. Just very light mark making to make it feel more complete & it certainly helped. What do you think? 

Thank you for stopping by, taking time to read, like, share or comment, 

Dee 🪡📍🧵🍂