The Colour of Water

The title of the 2015 challenge conjured up visions of a deep, blue ocean, pristine, white sands and palm trees. Dream on, the reality of living in the centre of England turned out to be rather different. I found a body of water called Edgbaston Reservoir, just 15 minutes away from my home and this was the starting point for my challenge piece The Colour of Water.
There wasn’t any white sand, in fact there wasn’t a beach due to nearly constant rain (called weather bombs). There were trees, but sadly not of the palm variety and most of these seem to be growing in or have fallen into the water. It was grey, grey, grey and the wind nearly knocked you off your feet. “That’s why it is used for sailing!” DH observed helpfully, as my piece nearly toppled into the water. I remember thinking at the time does this make my piece just a drop in the ocean.

The final piece evolved from a smaller cushion, which explored the textures and shapes found in the photos of the reservoir. I wanted to keep all the waves horizontal and Japanese wave stitch patterns were modified to work in sections, to avoid long rows across the piece. Many short rows were added to the stitch patterns to create the movement of the waves.
The front and back were worked separately and then joined together to create the sky. This was worked in the round using two circular needles, it had 700 stitches, which were grafted together to close the seam. I made my own cushion pad and the cushion closes with a zip, so it can be removed for washing.
Finished size – 50cms by 60cms.