A Three Sister’s Garden In My Kitchen

I was early in the morning, still dark outside, when the idea came to me.  It seemed so obvious once I thought of it, like it was already done, or I had seen it somewhere else.   It was that familiar.

The red stitched kitchen on my latest wallhanging needed a Three Sister’s Garden sprouting from its center.  Filling the space, with its life and life-giving foods.

The wall hanging is big, almost 5 feet square.  I wasn’t sure if I could stitch the drawing directly on it.  It’s hard to move a large piece of fabric like that around under my sewing machine and make intricate drawings.

So I started with a small piece of fabric, that I thought I could then attach the to center of the kitchen.

But it didn’t work.  I wanted the garden to look like  it was growing in the kitchen, and trying to sew on a piece of fabric with the garden sewn on it, looked… well….like a piece of fabric with a garden sewn on it.  

I decided I’d have to try sewing directly on the wall hanging.

Turns out it was easier to do than I expected.  And I already had the practice of sewing the first garden so it was just fun to do.  Getting the shape of the leaves, and working with the different colors of thread.

First I sewed the corn, then the squash…..

…the beans came last.   I used a little gold thread for the tassels  on the corn and corn stalks and on the bean vines.

It actually came out better than I was able to imagine it.  That doesn’t happen often.

Now I’m working on the Goddesses hair.  Fiery orange oak leaves, a fierce symbol of wisdom.

So often with my wall hangings and much of my work, I fill up every space.  But I’m thinking differently about this one.  Entertaining the ideas of simplicity and less is more.

I’ll see what happens when I’m done with her hair and face.  I’m not sure how I’ll work with  her eyes yet but I keep getting the feeling they need to sparkle.