TAst Week 3: Feather Stitch and Some Design Inspriation

 

 I used this week's feather stitch to make a little plant for the hummingbird I also stitched.  The hummingbird is made up of satin and long and short stitch, and I used the background fabric instead of stitching on its breast to mimic the iridescent feathers of a hummingbird.  In spite of the stormy weather I still see hummingbirds in my backyard.  They come for the scattered jasmine blossoms that have bloomed out of season on the porch.

 

Here's another bit of feather stitch, embellished with buttons, that I actually made the week before.  I used perle cotton and some tiny buttons from JoAnn Fabrics.

Here's an updated photo of the whole block.  It's a nice spring scene, a respite from the winter storms that have finally come late in the season, but with full force.

Before I decided to make this St. Francis piece, I coincidentally found this book at a thrift store.  It's a collection of popular stories about Francis written about a hundred years after his death. 

The book has this wonderful inscription, and I felt included in its good intentions.  I've long felt an attraction to St. Francis's story.  He was the son of a rich man who rejected all worldly goods and recognized the brotherhood not only between people of different social ranks, but between people and animals as well. 

When I first thought of this project I though it might be in rustic browns like the Franciscan order's habit, but reading the book I came across a description of the place where Francis first undertook his work, a part of central Italy between the Apennine Mountains and the Adriatic Sea, considered an area of immense natural beauty.  When Francis and his friend Giles arrived in 1209, the introduction says they saw "deep warm valleys and sloping meadows rich in wheat and vines."

"While the two friars walked through the vast forests of poplar, oak, and beech, and inhaled the soft  fragrance of honeysuckle, clover, mountain lilies, and white roses mingling with the fresh sea breezes, it is no wonder that--as an old chronicle noted--'Francis sang aloud in French, praising and blessing the Lord for His goodness.'"

This description is guiding my design.

A St. Francis statue hanging in my house