All of the borders from Pocketful of Posies are finished and the artwork is hung at Highfield for the first leg of the tour. The book release party will be held at Highfield Hall in Falmouth, MA on Sunday, Sept. 26, from 4 to 6pm. I hope to see some of you there!
I still have some photos which show the border making process for a few more illustrations. This one incorporates two different rhymes, Jack Sprat (who ate no fat) and Deedle, deedle dumpling, my son John (who went to bed with his trousers on).
The gray of the driftwood house is too monochromatic for me, so I added a favorite color combination of orange and blue to the figures and props. I used cool colors on the felt border, allowing the warmer browns and oranges to pop out visually. Jack Sprat and his wife are holding doll house utensils.
I embroidered the border pieces with variegated thread.
The driftwood beams and floor boards are sewn onto the felt background through tiny drilled holes. No dreaded glue! Now that I think of it, I did use some glue on the furniture.
But sewed son John’s bed in place.
I can remember really liking the process of building the house, which was so different from sewing. There was sawing, sanding, drilling, carving and whittling. Sawdust mingled with threads on the floor.
Jack Sprat from "Pocketful of Posies" 2010
Note: See other posts from the Pocketful of Borders series here.
SALLEY MAVOR 
Awesome!! I just love your attention to details and your stitching is terrific!!
That curved driftwood for the roof is perfect! How sweet the little bed in attic is! The colors are really wonderful in this.
Have a wonderful book release party today! (Wish it were just a little closer but I will be happy when it comes to CT.)
You have such grace with your sewing marks…just lovely dear friend. The stories you reweave for generations to come are so wonderful! Peace be with you, Mary Helen
Imagine the feeling when a person forgets to attend something very special to her, that was written on her calendar, AND posted on the right column of her blog, and was thought about all week with anticipation …and only at 6:20pm on Sunday night does she finally remember what she forgot. And she feels Heartsick!
All I can say is that it was probably the unexpected death of our pet rabbit this morning that threw my day off 😦
And I sooo looked forward to meeting you in person! Well, at least I’ll still be able to go see all your art since it will be there for the month. And you could bet I’d be there Tuesday if I didn’t have my Earth School!
LOVE LOVE LOVE your art and your books!
happy day !…and I am determined to meet you sometime somewhere in the future 🙂
~marcia
Marcia,
Sorry that you missed the “book party”. It was fantastic to see so many people. And, yes, I hope that we will meet sometime in the future!
I just received your book and it is just wonderful! I will enjoy studying all the special details! Fantastic, Salley!
I love the way you used the driftwood. So, so beautiful, Salley! I love to come here and enter the world of your beautiful art. sincerely, Beth