My Stitched Miniature Landscape Exemplar

In my last post, I showed you my latest etsy shop item, a small landscape quilt that was appliqued, embroidered and quilted. Early this a.m., I decided that this would be a good time to show you my miniature landscape "exemplar." Ok....I looked up that word and found, according to the Oxford American Dictionary, exemplar - n. 1. a worthy model or pattern. 2. a typical example. So, I think I can use the word. It sure sounds better than "here are some landscape quilts I made."

In one photo, you will see five pieces all hand appliqued and embellished with embroidery. Three of these are 5" x 7", one is 4" x 6", and the smallest is 2 1/2" x 3 1/2." If you haven't tried anything this small, well, give it a try...it's much easier to have something tiny look "real" than it is on a larger project.

There is a house with a flag in the yard, flowers and an arbor at the fence. I love adding the American Flag to my work, when appropriate, and this little scene really needed a flag pole in the yard. It's my opinion that when you work on little things like this...the scene "tells" you what it needs, so it did. I felt my friend, Mary Lou, would like to have this one in her home, so it lives with her now and that makes me pretty happy.

In one photo, you see me holding the smallest of these landscapes in my hand. Also on the table you can see the small quilt in my last post. This was taken in a "previous bird nest on the ground" studio. My thread is no longer hanging on the wall, but this is one of my favorite photos.....as it looks so "crafty." This photo was taken to advertise my classes at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, Arkansas. I am no longer doing those classes, but sure enjoyed being there. Mary Agnes, if you read this...a big Hi to you!!!

The barn piece has a funny story. First of all, when making a scene, I like to find fabrics that work well to make "sky." You'd be surprised which fabrics work for sky...for instance, the fabric used as sky in this piece was actually a large beach scene with lots of water and sand. When I was auditioning fabric, the water looked like sky to me...and so it is! The sheep in the scene were a part of that green fabric...so cute. When I appliqued the barn, I took the piece to show Richard. He took a look, you know how husbands do, and said it was "nice." Then, he took a more careful look and said, "That barn will never have light in it...there's no power line along the road." Richard is retired from Entergy Corp., which used to be Arkansas Power and Light. He was a substation repairman. So, in order to please him and get light to that barn, I stitched the power lines and a tiny transformer!!! Let there be light!

There is that same church I put on the quilt in the previous post. Just smaller. And one of my favorite things...a tree. This one has an embroidered "mat" as I just love embroidering leaves. And, of course, the sheep fabric...so much fun!

The last photo is of the tiniest of the landscapes. These are my very favorite ones. This is about the same size as a Artist Trading Card, if you are familiar with those. Very little thread or fabric is used in the making of these tiny things, but to me, they have a lot of visual appeal. Oh, yes, I used that same beach fabric for the sky in this one too!!

I have taught classes on these little landscapes in the past and it's always fun to see what people want to include on their pieces. I distinctly remember one lady who had never done any embroidery before, yet her finished landscape was absolutely beautiful...she was proud and so was I. On that day, in that class, she inspired me rather than the other way around.

So, there you have it. My "exemplar" on miniature landscapes. A worthy model or pattern, a typical example...only you can really say. Have a great day! pat