TAST WEEK 12 Couching

If not for Sharon I would never be trying to extend myself with different stitches and threads. I find I am using up all manner of odds and ends that would normally become knotted and useless and then be tossed out.

Always, couching for me has been the loop-over -the-thread, nothing inspirational there. I have used beads before but today I started with my Week 8 TAST cross stitched fish and decided to make a seascape. It may be difficult to see my couching stitches through the busy threads but the lower left weed is held down with yellow pistil stitches, the blue next to it is held with fly stitch (the hardest to see) and next again is with loose bullions in the rust colour.
The two long,blue MOPs are cross stitched to hold them there.

Above this weed is my octopus and this IS using the loop-over-the-thread method.

I used a very thick burgundy chenille and loosely couched this with a long green straight stitch and placed a flower and a cumbersome piece of green MOP at the base. I needed something to really hold the MOP in place and chose the double cast-on stitch. It certainly worked as the piece didn't move at all once the first leaf was laid.

The floss on the right is held down with shell bits and beads and at the base is a loosely laid broken shell couched with various beads.

Thanks Sharon for the weekly inspiration. Maureen