But at night, I happily stitched away on the Green Man- are you tired of him yet? I wanted him to look organic, and just could not bear to enclose him in a traditional binding. I concocted this binding made from fibers I got in a $3.00 card of "Adornaments" at Michael's. First I zigzagged the edge of the quilt several times, then zigzagged the fiber to the front and back. Now I am going around and hand-stitching the fiber to cover the zigzags. I think it looks sort of like moss! I also left some raw strips hanging off the edge.
I also got out my Fabrico markers and Tsukineko inks and worked on some areas where I wanted to enhance the quilted motifs, such as the frog, the flower, and the text.
My favorite embellishment is on the eyebrows. I wanted prominent, projecting eyebrows, but they were looking very flat after quilting. Again, I used the "Adornaments fun fibers and some shaggy yarn I already had. I twisted and crunched them together and added in a few beads. The little white flower and green leaves are from an arrangement of my grandmother's. She had given me a little Victorian lady's shoe figurine with these little artificial flowers.
Can you see the hidden lizard now? He still needs a little paint to bring him out some more. I gave him a yellow glass bead for an eye.I can't decide on the nose. I have added some fibers and have tried using a big wooden bead with a small wooden bead to make his nose stick out. It is not looking quite right. Maybe I can find something else.
To finish him, I am thinking of adding some botanicals, like dried sticks or moss. And I am thinking of adding tabs at the top and hanging him from a tree branch. I went looking in the yard for a likely stick that would enjoy becoming a quilt hanger. Could not find what I wanted, but am considering a crepe myrtle because of their reddish wood and the shaggy bark.
