Part 4 in the Frosty Morning series is about making the stone wall and the ice covered bush in front of it. Part 1 shows how I made the tree trunks, Part 2 gives a close look at how I formed and wrapped the wire tree branches and Part 3 is about constructing the rounded shelters. Yes, I will eventually get to the wee folk characters!

To begin, I cut stone shapes out of a special piece of wool felt that I’ve kept just for this kind of thing. It’s from a bunch of unevenly dyed “seconds” that I was lucky enough to purchase years ago. That source has since dried up, so I guard my stash very carefully. After blanket stitching the felt shapes 2/3 of the way around, I slipped another layer or two of felt inside the pockets and then finished stitching around the outside edges. That way, they puffed up a bit and looked more 3-dimensional.

I’ve used this felt to make stone walls in other pictures, such as Rabbitat and the Netherlands scene in MY BED.

I then outlined the stones and filled in the gaps with chain stitches.

To create the look of snowfall on top the the wall, I blanket stitched a few rows with white metallic thread.

Then I bent and twisted wire to form branches, which I wrapped with white metallic thread. I don’t know about you, but I find stitching with metallic thread frustrating and frankly, a yucky experience! No matter what you do to lubricate the thread, it’s a rough ride. Even though metallic and other synthetic threads are frustrating to work with, I suffered through because I wanted the glittery, magical look that comes with it.

I sewed the wire branches in place…

and embroidered smaller offshoots onto the felt background.

It was such a relief to thread my needle with cotton floss and stitch the curly-cues at the bottom.

To help add a little accent, I dotted the tips of the branches with silver french knots.

Now, with the lower half of the composition sufficiently grounded, I could move on to other more fantastical areas of the piece.

Stay tuned for Part 5 in the Frosty Morning series, which will be all about adding ice and snow and sparkly touches to the winter landscape.

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