It’s three weeks since I shared my new stitch-a-long project with you, it’s a Dimensions kit called The Finery of Nature which I got off the sales table at my Embroiderers Guild for a donation! It was meant to be stitched on black aida which was never going to happen, my eyes and black don’t go together! I swopped the black aida for a soft duck egg blue linen. Three weeks ago it looked like this…
I must admit three weeks ago I was still a bit hot and cold about this one, especially was the change in colour going to work. I decided to aim for the bird, stitch something solid! I’ve managed to get quite a bit done in short spells, 10 minutes here and there.
I stitched all the cross-stitch for the chickadee and decided to do the back-stitch at the same time. Here I had to make my first change, the tail feathers were outlined in black, which was fine, but the head area was back-stitched in pale grey, this just didn’t show up, obviously with a black background it would have been quite effective, but not with a lighter linen. I changed it to a dark grey, a bit softer than black but much clearer than the original colour. It worked, though I’m still pondering about whether to do the beak in an even darker grey.
I had about a week when I didn’t stitch this at all, I went back to it with fresh eyes and I love it now! The soft shade of the linen looks beautiful against the embroidery, I can’t get a photo that really shows the colour properly so you’ll just have to take my word for it!
I’m working my way around the flowers at the moment, the design has quite a large border round it, borders are not my favourite thing to stitch, so I’m planning to stitch it as I go along, a bit at a time, rather than leaving it to do at the end. I realised today that the little leaves on the bottom (third ones along with a bit of blue-green) are one stitch out, so of course that’s thrown the lily of the valley out too. Luckily I can get away with that one as there is just enough room under the chickadee. However I’ve started the next flower counting from the chickadee so I know I’m back on track ready for the border. I’ve also added an extra stitch at the bottom of the stems so it does actually finish in the right place.
One thing I’m still pondering about is the highlights. The kit has quite a lot of gold back-stitching which would look quite striking on the black, I’m just not sure about it on the soft coloured linen. I’m wondering about using an Anchor silver lame thread instead, it’s about the same weight and it’s lovely to use. I think it might just give a nice twinkle, rather than looking a bit too blingy.
This stitch-a-long is organised by Avis, we share our progress every three weeks, it’s a great motivator to keep going. Please follow the links to see what everyone else has been working on, if you would like to join us just send a message to Avis.
Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Catherine, Deborah, Connie, Clare, Mary Margaret, Renee, Jenny, Carmela, Jocelyn, Sharon
I’ll also be linking up with Kathy’s Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday, a celebration of all kinds of hand stitching, so please follow the link to see even more inspiration.
thecraftycreek 
Very pretty
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Such a lot of progress!
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Oh I love the bird, this is so pretty.
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Such detail–wow!
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looking lovely and bird’s beak looks fine to me!
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Sweet little chickadee, he looks just fine!
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The beak looks great the way it is to me. Yes, silver and blue would be much nicer than gold and blue I think. It’s up to you though đŸ˜‰
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You’ve done a great job,I really like the nuances of the bird.It’s really a delicate model ! Happy stitching!
Carmela
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This is just lovely! So sweet ~ Sharon
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Lovely little bird… so sweet! Enjoy!
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Wow, lots of progress and such a pretty bird. It’s looking really beautiful. Jenny x
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Oh Chickadee is beautiful and you are so right, the colours against the linen couldn’t be more perfect. I love it too when I have something to count from as it were. Happy Stitching!
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This pattern is so lovely — I think a silver thread would look lovely against the pale blue!
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Really like the colours in this, Margaret, but oh, such tiny stitches!
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Thanks Del, they’re not actually that small, it’s 32 count linen, so 16 stitches to the inch.
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I love the bird. Especially with the backstitching. Can’t wait for your next update!
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The chickadee is so cute! I think he looks perfect as is. Well done for doing short bursts of stitching. You were still able to get alot done!
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Wow! You’ve made so much progress! It looks lovely. I never would have guessed anything was off by a stitch. Beautiful work. I look forward to seeing how it looks in March.
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What a beautiful little bird! Great progress!
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Beautiful piece and lovely stitching as always!
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This is beautiful and that bird is so natural looking.
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I’m just now catching up on our last SAL. This piece is looking so pretty, it must look even better in person. And kudos on having your new sewing project book with you on the train!
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This is looking lovely! Well done on working through the changes in colour so effectively.
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Love your bird. He is so cute. Amazing what stepping away for a bit can do. đŸ˜€
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