In this Part 1 of the series about making Summertime, I share photos and commentary about how I created the tree trunks, which provide the framework for the whole composition. In this post, I reveal what’s inside the trunks and show how I covered them with felt and embroidered embellishment. Future posts will discuss other elements of the piece, including the treehouses, plants, raspberries, wee folk, and the Baltimore Oriole. So far, I’ve written an overview of the piece, Part 1 – Tree Trunks, Part 2 – Tree Houses, Part 3 – leaves, stems & branches, Part 4 – Baltimore Oriole (body), Part 5 – Baltimore Oriole (head and feet), Part 6 – rose vine, Part 7 – raspberry plants, and Part 8 – stitching flora.
Summertime is the summer scene in a series of four seasonal landscapes that capture the wonder and magic of the natural world. Posters, note cards, prints, bookmarks, and jigsaw puzzles of Summertime and the other scenes in the series (Frosty Morning, Mossy Glen and Harvest Time) are available in my Etsy Shop.
See the Four Seasons Series and dozens of other works in my exhibition, To Every Season: Works by Salley Mavor at the New England Quilt Museum, Sept. 9 – Dec. 31, 2025.
Before threading the first needle, I pictured the scene in my head for months, mostly while taking walks or riding on the bike path. During this early stage of the process, I made a lot of thumbnail sketches and worked out the basic design. Once I could clearly see a path forward, I enlarged a drawing to the full 19″ x 24″ size and used it as a simple guideline. All of the color choices, design changes, and stitching details would come later, as the piece evolved.
I formed the structure of the tree with insulated electrical wire of different thicknesses that I found at the hardware store. To make forked branches, I stripped the plastic coating at the ends and wound the exposed copper wire around the adjoining branches. The whole idea was to make an armature that was flexible and strong enough to bend and manipulate as needed.
To build up the thickness of the tree, I wrapped the wire with cut strips of cotton quilt batting, which I roughly stitched in place.
The next step was to cover the padded wire with wool felt. I started by stitching felt pieces to the back of the tree trunk and branches, making a flat surface that would eventually be sewn to the background sky.
Then I stitched pieces of felt over the curved front. The photo below gives a view from the back, as I overlapped the front strip of felt over the back piece. The messy seams will all be covered with embroidery and hidden in the back.
After covering the tree with felt, I stitched a zigzag “bark” texture up and down the branches with pima cotton.
At first, I liked how the pink and tan variegated thread looked, but soon realized that it alone was too subtle and needed more saturated accent colors to help it pop in contrast to the sky background.
I added bright turquoise and then decided to go even further with hot pink, which I also used to create a cross-hatched effect along the sides of the trunks.
I used finer gauge wire to form the smaller branches and wrapped them with embroidery floss.
I sewed some glass beads that have been stored in my stash for 20 years to the tips of the branches. It felt so good to finally put them to use!
Stay tuned for future posts in this series about Summertime. In Part 2, I will show how I made the thatch-roofed treehouses nestled into the tree trunks. If you want to receive email notices when I publish new posts, please subscribe to this blog using the form below.
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SALLEY MAVOR 
Your work is just amazing. Such patience and imagination! And colours! It is so rewarding to follow your artistic process. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you, Jelena! It’s nice to know that people like you are following along and enjoying my posts.
lol! I was going to say ” your work is amazing! ” And then I saw that’s exactly what the first commenter said! I love reading your blog. Your attention to detail is phenomenal.
Thank you for coming along on my artistic journey, Julia!
You are amazing. The detail in your stunning work is incredible. I enjoy reading about your process from beginning to end. So glad I saw your exhibition when it was in Maine! ❤️
Thank you, Dorene and I’m glad that you saw my exhibition in Maine!
I don’t think your seams are messy at all! Thank you for showing your steps. I like to embellish the clothes I sew and your techniques have given me a couple ideas to sketch out and play around with. I enjoy your art so much.
Thank you for your kind words, Martina. I’m glad that you feel inspired to develop some new ideas!
Dear Salley, Just loved this post – especially how you felt about finding just the right use for the glass beads. It’s so satisfying when I open my fabric/notions cupboard and have just what I need for a project. It makes storing that stock pile worth it, and I don’t have to interrupt my momentum by having to go shopping. The way you use your found and saved objects for a new purpose encourages me to look at things in a new way. I feel like every time I look at one of your pieces, I find new things to “oooo” over. I’m so looking forward to your show here in Albany. Unfortunately I just found out I have a family gathering on the 27th opening, but I think I remember you saying there would be another event during the course of the show that you would be here for. Has there been any decision on when that will happen? Hoping I can make that one – it would be fun to have a chance to meet. And if not, I’m looking forward to introducing more friends to your work and “ooooing” over them with new folks!
Best, Lynne Roblin
Thank you, Lynne. The opening reception in Albany will be Friday, July 26th (time TBA) and I will return to give a talk in December, probably on the 8th. Please stay tuned for updates. I hope that you enjoy the show!
Thanks I love the work of Salley Mavor
HI Salley,
I have just completed my Level2 City and Guilds certificate in embroidery and textiles here in the UK. I came across you quite by chance on You Tube this January and am now a follower. Your work is so inspiring. So a big thankyou for the inspiration and incredible work and your generosity in sharing your knowledge.
Thank you for coming along on my artistic journey. I hope that you continue to expand your own work!