Wool + antique linen = cushion

In my last post I showed you the beginnings of the first cushion shown here. It was in part a salvage project because I wanted to embroider a flower similar to the cushion shown in the first image which is basically falling apart. It was also an opportunity to learn the basic stitches. Originally I wanted to do a round cushion but in the end I changed the design and added leaves and so I decided to adopt the more conventional format.

Inspired to do something from  my surrounding landscape I found this small blue lilac flower that began to fill the fields in my Spring walks. It is only a small flower but very intricate when you get a close look, and I wanted to see if I could capture the feel of it but simplify it at the same time. For this embroidery I drew a basic original sketch to start to abstract the design and then embroidered onto the linen without drawing the whole flower in one go. First I worked the inner circles and then embroidered pretty much freehand the rest of it. The bonus of doing it this way is that it feels a lot more organic and less planned which I think is good, on the other hand I would find it almost impossible to replicate this design exactly, which I guess ends up being good also.

The last cushion was me basically feeling a bit over fussy embroidery and wanting to really just simplify and organize and not think so much. Actually looking back this does not really make so much sense seeing as the more organic design should have been the one with less regimented thought and in fact I think it was although it was also very planned, whereas this last one even though more basic in design is definitely more logic, i.e. equally as thought out.

I am very happy with all these designs. All the cushion fronts were embroidered with Portuguese wool on antique hand loomed linen also from Portugal, and the backs are made from cotton and fasted with 3 vintage buttons, and are approximately 50x50cm in size. If you like them let me know and if you would really really like to own one of them please do get in touch with me. Soon I´ll have some available to sell online, but till then you can custom order if you like :-).