A tiny picture showing some swallows swooping over a landscape of hills, fields and a glimpse of the sea.

There’s a bit of appliqué and collage in this tiny textile - the distant sea is a piece of turquoise ribbon and the hillside is some earthy coloured cotton. The pattern of the fields are stitched in different shades of green with the hedges and trees in darker green. There’s a little road winding along to the coast, past a farm with a white farmhouse and some sheep in the fields. The hilltop has a stony outcrop and there’s even some heather on the hillside if you look really closely.

The swallows are swooping above it all, no doubt enjoying their bird’s eye view. Some fluffy clouds and a sparkle in the sea complete the scene, which I’ve named “Returning”.

That’s a lot in a square less than 3.5x3.5 cms! The narrow oak frame measures 10.5x10.5 cms. I photographed it in natural light without the glass for best clarity, and with a hook on the reverse and the protective glass in place, it’s ready to display.

A year - round reminder of summer swallows, maybe a nostalgic view of the countryside for a city dweller.

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