Caroline

maika creations
winter fox
 
Caroline
Brisbane, Australia
 
About me…
On the surface I appear to manage to do all the usual stuff - work, parent, do the housework...but I am often actually terribly distracted from these worldly activities because I am always sewing, or thinking about sewing, or dreaming of sewing instead of working (dream on!). I love the challenge of starting something from scratch, from idea to sketch, to pattern, to construction to finished object. I always have an idea or project on the go and as a result I haven’t seen my dining table the whole year (it’s buried under sewing gear). I also get a thrill from giving my creations away to unsuspecting recipients.  To record all of my creative endeavours, adventures (and mis-adventures) I write a blog called Maika Creations

About my square…
Winter Fox
The significant part of my design is the fox. It’s a tracing of a wooden carving that belongs to my husband. The carving originates from Bulgaria – my husband’s home country - and was handmade about 20 years ago by an aging artisan who sold them for a living on the streets of Sofia. It’s one of those things we just always have on display somewhere in our house, wherever we live.

I liked the fox’s smooth and flowing art deco style, in my mind’s eye I could see him effortlessly running through a silent winter forest. So the design was conceived, a sleek fox running through the snow, past the conifers and bare winter trees with a few remaining berries, his journey only noticed by a couple of birds above.

The square is embroidered by hand using two strands of embroidery floss.  I used exactly two skeins to complete the design which, to maintain the simplicity of the design, uses only back stitch, French knots and a few daisy stitches on the birds.
  
You can see more about how the design was created here.
 
If you’d like to stitch a winter fox too my design can be found here free of charge).
 
Find me…
Flickr
Facebook page: Maika Creations