change

 reworking an old piece, adding Sun Moon & Stars - as a follower of Jude's latest 'class' -  with lots of thread beads, for one because I love the feel of them and to me they could also represent stars, light specks, shimmering motes of stardust; the cloth was wider, too wide I felt so I cut it on both sides and added neat edges with the very thin red/white cloth, hence the blue bird lost it's tail; I also added the blue-grey sky fabric with the dyed moon and the red-white middle square with the cut-off tree-thingy on top and as I was so busy cutting away sewn on bits and restitching others, I decided to cut the middle layer away from underneath all the coloured bits as well, making it all two-layered three-layered, another thing I learned from Jude; in this way the backing is left cloth intact for a neater look, I always like to look at the back of a piece as well; if I've lost you by now: don't worry it's not that interesting, this information is mainly for personal record-keeping.

probably more interesting than the back of this piece is the article on woodlice lying underneath it, did you know they grind dead wood into powder so the fungi can get to work; thanks to the woodlouse's endeavours valuable nutrients from dead organic matter is rendered back into the soil so living plants can prosper; without woodlice woods would disappear or become much less diverse!  Onsiscidea is the name for this group of arthropods, not insects  but crustaceans, related to crabs, lobsters and shrimps. They date back 160 million years. They're constantly shedding their skin and devouring it as well, theirs is a peaceful life: eat, sleep, shed repeat.

 Imagine my surprise when I discovered just how many synonyms there are in the English language for such a small creature: 

pill bug 

woodlouse 

armadillo bug 

cheeselog

doodlebug

monkeypea 

roly-poly 

potato bug 

roll up bug

slater 

sow bug

addendum for Grace in response to her comment: I said the piece was two-layered, I don't know why, I guess I didn't look properly, as it obviously has at least three layers, where there is the red/white square with the tree-thingy scrap of cotton it has 4 layers, as the red/white is so very thin I feel it to be okay that way; why I'm being so finicky about this is in part thanks to Jude's teaching (she frequently explains how she cuts away layers after having added bits of fabric, so overall there is the same amount f.e. here) and also the entire feel of the piece is directly influenced by the layering and as it's hanging (or will be soon) the amount of cloth and weight involved matter, which you 'get' once you feel the real item in your hand