When I first started doing “art” embroidery, I was told that leaving the finished work in the hoop made it look too crafty/homey.  It would never be considered “real art.”  Now much more craft is considered real art, whatever that means.  I never stopped using the hoops as frames, and in fact, use embroidery hoops as embellishments for some of my cloth sculptures.

Anyway, I finished this embroidery today and secured it with a whip stitch around the hoop.  It’s called Dream Tree.  I like using basic plant shapes and making up  my own details.  I love the impressionist nature of cotton floss.

It’s 6 inches around. I scanned it instead of photographing it because the beading didn’t show up well on the photograph.  I gotta stop working in monotones — but I love doing it.  I hope your dream tree is slightly off balance and has deep happy roots.