Wall hanging work-in-progress

 

I thought I'd talk a little more about my wall hanging that's getting nearer completion.  It's my interpretation of the theme 'Creation', and is made with a calico base, measuring roughly 16 x 17 inches in size.  I've pieced together various fabrics to try and represent sea, land and sky, and embroidered and appliqued fishes and - so far - just a solitary bird.  There will be more!  The material making up the land is my handpainted material, done with a mix of acrylic paint and Inktense.  The line of yellow that runs between land and sea is meant to be sand, as on a beach.  I did think about making some pretend rocks and pebbles here, using either grey material or grey beads, but neither of those looked right when I tried them out.  It's all very much been a process of trial and error, and there are definitely things I'd do differently if I started from scratch all over again.  

The trees are made of brown felt which I've lightly padded out, stuffing them with tiny scraps of leftover thread or felt offcuts, and I've used green crewel wool for the leaves.  I've padded a couple of the larger fish out too, but just used Bondaweb to attach the smaller fishes.  

There're little shrubs with berries or flowers, and lines of back stitch to represent grasses.  

More back stitching to attach the light blue seaweed - made from sari fabric, of all things - and I've added seed beads too, including clear ones to represent bubbles coming out of fishes mouths.  Finally, just in case you want a peek at what the backside of my wall hanging looks like - 

It's messy!  I was going to add a backing material to neaten it up, but don't think I will.  I mean, who's bothered about the back of it?  That won't be seen once it's displayed on the wall.  I do need to add hanging loops or something similar, and maybe add some kind of trim or beads to the base.  

The entire thing needs to be complete by mid-September, so I need to crack on with it, don't I?