10th Avenue Boardwalk

In Portland's Pearl District, a wooden boardwalk runs on 10th Avenue from Johnson to Northrup linking three city parks, Jamison Square, Tanner Springs, and The Fields.  Trees canopy the boardwalk adjacent to Jamison Square.  Several cafes in the area provide outdoor seating.  Although surrounded by busy city streets, it is peaceful and pleasant. 

The boardwalk runs next to our building, so we use it often.  Never has it looked more lovely than a recent September day.  The late summer sun was shining through the thinning leaves.  Yellow leaves on the boardwalk and still clinging to the trees seemed to glow.  Here is my thread sketch version of the photograph we took.

10th Avenue Boardwalk
Finished size 8"x11"

Framed for our wall

Steps and a few photos follow:

The photograph was changed to a line drawing in Photoshop Elements and printed onto fabric.  I used a regular sewing machine stitch to draw a few straight lines across the boardwalk.  This helped maintain perspective while doing the free motion sewing. 

Using free motion, I continued to add color to the boardwalk.  A basic brown thread was used to stitch tree trunks and limbs.  I will go back later and define the tree trunks with a darker color. 

Two colors of green were first used to define leaves.   

Yellow leaves were stitched in the trees and on the boardwalk.  I started with a mid-range yellow and then added dark yellow leaves.  A pale gold was finally used for highlights.

I alternated stitching with greens and yellows until I was happy with the effect.  When completed, there were five shades of green and three shades of yellow.

Looking ahead

I have several thread sketch greeting cards in mind, but most of my time will be spent working on traditional sewing projects.  Please come back in two weeks to see what I have been doing!