For the past 2 months, I’ve been working on a large (24″ x 30″) fabric relief piece. I haven’t picked a title yet, but the picture depicts birds in our town owned forest, Beebe Woods.
The deadline to finish is in early September and since my work takes forever, I’ll be stitching right through the summer. The piece will hang in a group fiber show, The Intimate Woods at Highfield Hall in Falmouth, MA, Sept. 18 – Nov. 16, 2012. This will be the same venue for my Pocketful of Posies touring show, when it returns home next year, Sept. 4 – Oct. 31, 2013.
Poster – Birds of Beebe Woods
I’ve been taking photos of the different steps and have so far made a crow, robin, and cedar waxwing, with many more birds to come. The stage curtain looking border is made of felt covered wire. Later, when I have time, I’ll show more pictures. Right now, I’m happily in La La Land, immersed in the sewing process, listening to narrated books.
Update: Posters and cards of Birds of Beebe Woods are available in my Etsy Shop.
SALLEY MAVOR 
Truly extraordinary!!! Can’t wait to see into the process more. It’s so fun to find your posts and get a glimpse of your world. It’s all so narrative and inviting and the execution amazing! Thanks so much for sharing your world with me. – – -Lilia
How beautiful! That cedar waxwing looks so real!
I love getting your emails and peaking in on your world of
beautiful wool work….la la land is nice place to hang out isn’t it?
Happy Sewing
Oh wow! fabulous birds! Love the crow……..
Salley, this is going to be exquisite! It already IS. I hope you will post close-ups of the birds, they look wonderful already
Beautiful Salley. Can’t wait to see the progress pictures and the finished piece.
Oh, wow! This is absolutely stunning! I can’t wait to see more.
I like the name “Birds of Beebe Woods”! I will try to come to one of the shows if I get back east during those time periods.
I vote with Viv for “Birds of Beebe Woods.” It’s a great title. Your birds are exquisite and the border is so beautiful and imaginative!
It’s good to hear your votes for the title. I was thinking it should be more interesting, but some sometimes a simple description is best.
Salley, I love to get your news on the blogs. What you create is so special. When I work or am thinking about a project, I go to the “Land of La” so I totally understand where you are. Maybe one day we’ll meet.
Gita
This is beautiful! I love birds!
It’s going to be extraordinary. Thanks for the sneak peek! It’s funny, when you said you were in LaLaLand I thought you meant you were in LA (Los Angeles). LOL! Because out here LaLaLand is a nickname for Los Angeles, .
Oh my! I love it so! Can’t wait to see it finished but I love the process photos too! Can you share what narrated books you listen to as I listen to books when I sew as well.
I just started listening, so my list is short. I really liked “The Help”. It was in the 90’s here and felt like I was in Mississippi. I’m listening to “Her Fearful Symmetry” by Aurdey Niffenegger, author of “The Time Traveler’s Wife”, which I also enjoyed.
Oh Salley, how I look forward to your posts, I adore birds and as an embroiderer they are one of my favorite subjects. Isn’t la la land a wonderful place to be? Can’t wait to see your progress, thanks for sharing.
Well you will definitely need to make a poster of this one for etsy! This is wonderful, just what you’ve done so far. I can’t wait to see the finished project!
Yes, Jan, I’m thinking about having a poster made.
Please do!! I’d pre-order now if I could. 🙂
As soon as I saw your post about the birds—and in their natural habitat—I thought of Thornton Burgess, the conservationist and author from Sandwich of all those marvelous “West Wind Stories” for families. You might already be thinking of how you can recreate “Sammy Jay” or “Hooty Owl.” Actually, you may be the only artist who could actually depict the “Merry Little Breezes.” I look forward to your next post about this project. Have fun!
Pam,
We read the boys the Thornton Burgess stories and visited his property in Sandwich when they were little. It was fun to walk on the paths and imagine the animal characters. I’m glad you like the piece and thanks for checking in.
I love it already! Your work is always a pleasant surprise. Everytime I get a notice of a new blog from you I have to look right away. Happy sewing this summer!
Oh Salley, this is amazing, like so many others I look forward to receiving your e-mails. Your work is so exquisite, thankyou for letting us peek, may love this best, but I love all your work so much, probably because this is your latest!
Is looking great!! Enjoy…and so shall we in September at Highfield!!
Pam, my husband loves Burgess books, too, and he will sometimes read them when he wants to fill his mind with only cheery thoughts before bed. Salley, your new project is so divine!! I love birds and certainly know how long it can take to complete such an involved project. I laughed when I read your comment about being in “la la land” because I live there, so often, too. Isn’t it such a joy to be surrounded by creative ideas and all those lovely supplies?
Hi Salley, when I want a break from my sometimes crazy life I just look at one of your posts, by the way, I really do live in la la land, AKA Los Angeles.
A masterpiece evolving. Can’t wait to the finish.
Hi Salley! This is shaping up to be another extraordinary piece! May I ask a technical question? For something this size, how do you sew it without getting a lot of annoying little puckers since you appear to be doing this freehand (ie: without a frame)? Or is it that you have perfected the tension over years of practice? (Yeah, I bet it’s the latter.) 😉
Sheila, I don’t like puckers, either. I do use a stretcher and usually have something heavy like (stretched) upholstery fabric as a background.
Thank you for answering me, Salley. I just love your work. It’s beautiful and inspiring!
Exquisite as usual Salley. I love to pop in and see the latest work you are doing too.
I also have a technical question. How do you add felt to the wire? Do you felt the wool fibres around the wire or some other method?
Thanks, Joanna. I sew felt around the wire. No felting fibers. Sorry to be so nondescriptive, but this is a new method I’m trying and I’m not ready to show how.
How realistic and alive the birds look!
Oh my goodness Salley, I LOVE this one! My husband is a huge lover of corvids and has read at least five books on ravens, crows, magpies, etc. We both enjoy birds of all types and are thrilled that you are doing such a large scale collage/stitchery project which includes so many different species. I do hope to see this one in person for sure! It is certainly worth a visit to Highfield Hall, that being where CLOC performs, right? Please continue to keep us posted and informed, as you stitch away. Think of how many books you will have “read” by the end of summer. Blessings and good thoughts to you from here to there!
Fair enough Salley. I was just wondering as it does look good and gives a nice relief to the project
I really love this piece, can’t wait to see more.
Debbie
Salley:
La la land sounds just lo lo lovely to me right now! Sometimes I just want to inhabit your creations. As long as I can remember I have felt called into small works of art: embroideries, dollhouses, tiny sewing projects and your work beckons me more than most. I simply cannot get enough of it. I think the title “Birds of Beebe Woods” is simple, descriptive and alluringly alliterative. Please keep it. And, if you do make it into a print, I want to purchase one immediately as a gift for a wee little girl to be born in August. The mother-to-be is my daughter’s dearest friend and her last name is Beebe and she is a scientist who studies the genetics of birds. What could be a more perfect gift? I plan to have a Sally Mavor print on my own little granddaughter’s wall (I sent you a message via Etsy regarding this…). Best of luck with the continued work on BoBW and I will follow your progress and I definitely enjoy the la las vicariously.
Cathy G. (as in met you at the Danforth)
love your beebe’s makes me smile they do and you thanx so much for showing . renee