Road Trip - Metchosin

My weekly quilt group decided to have an 'outing' today and we visited Moe Reilly in her studio in Metchosin. Moe's work is intricate, detailed and entirely fascinating!  Moe is an award-winning embroiderer who creates stunning work inspired by nature and wildlife.

We spent almost 2 hours in Moe's studio where she told us all about her work, how she researches the subject matter thoroughly, how she tests her techniques before creating her final pieces and about some of the creative 'inventions' she has made along the way. It was inspiring to learn about both the process and the products she produces.

Here are a few pictures of her work.

First is a creative 'tree box'. If you have ever seen a cedar tree you would swear the top fronds were real - they aren't!  Moe creates each individual piece of cedar using thread painting and many different colours to get the texture so lifelike.

This 'otter' piece shows how Moe's work is so dimensional. Each individual element is created as a separate item and then each one is incorporated into the work. The otter is entirely stitched BY HAND!

This is a picture of a part of her piece 'To See Heaven in a Wildflower'. I was really drawn into this piece because each petal is a lovely work of art all on its own and the background of this piece was more 'quiltlike' than some of the other work (and, of course, I 'live' in the quilt world.) You can see from the photograph that the butterfly is a separate multi-part element. It looks like this monarch has just drifted into the studio to land on the flower!

To learn more about Moe and see more of her creations, visit her website Pebblehill Studio.   I hope Moe continues to submit her work for exhibit and hopefully for publication - though seeing it in person is SO much better than any photograph can show!