The Peacock's Feather

Feed the Birds -- Color Choices

I've started stitching my Birds of a Feather freebie, "Feed the Birds".  I wanted to wait until I had more stitched to share a photo, but as I probably won't stitch  much until the weekend I thought I'd just go ahead and take a photo.  I am stitching on Belfast 32 ct. Raw linen and using a combination of DMC and overdyed floss as called for in the chart.  I prefer all overdyed floss but don't want to take the time to order the missing colors.

Here are the colors I've pulled to use.  I'm wondering if the "fire" DMC substitution (used for the words) isn't too bright?  BOAF designs tend to use bright colors and I haven't got much else stitched to even things out yet, so maybe I am being too hasty?  The flosses at the top right are more overdyed substitutions--using on strand of each color.  I've never done this before and wonder how it will turn out.  I think I'll keep going and if I hate it I can always order the missing overdyed flosses and start over again...

What do you think?  Too bright?  Okay?  Too soon to tell?

Quaker Heart Finish

I finished this late yesterday, but I was too tired to post my photos.  This took much longer to finish than I anticipated, but it's done!  The hard part was whipstitching the linen pieces together at the top in that middle gap.  I had to take out stitches and remove the beads, so there is a little section with no beads, but I don't think it really is very noticeable. 

Quaker Heart Freebie (from Piecework Magazine)
Stitched on 32 count Lambswool using DMC #4210 Variegated Floss
Antique Glass Beads (#03021) attached to the outside edge

Here's a view of the back of the heart.

 

And I took a few photos of my finishing.  It's just your basic backstitching and then whipstitching the two linen pieces together (hopefully I'm using the correct terminology?).

 

I added a bead at every other stitch.  Each stitch would have been too close together, I think.

 

The beading wasn't as hard as I expected (except at the top).  It just took a while as it's quite a ways around the heart.

 

And here's a close up of the beads.  I filled it with little plastic pellets used in crafts to give it a little weight.  I'm quite pleased with how it turned out! 

Odds and Ends and Updates

I was hoping I would have finished all the stitching on my Quaker Heart freebie, but I still have a couple of motifs left on the back to stitch.  I plan on back stitching and whip stitching the hearts together and making this into a pin cushion (I have a fondness for pin cushions).  I was wondering how it would look with beads attached to the edges as well?  Maybe small pearl/white beads?  I've done this before, but it's been so long I can't quite remember how I did it.  I always use two plies of floss for the backstitching, but I wonder if only one ply will be sufficient for the whip stitching, as I'm not sure two plies will fit through the beads.  Any ideas?  I may have to just mess about with it a bit to see.  Hopefully I can share a finished photo sometime tomorrow--just in time for Valentine's Day.

 

I finally finished the first row of the border on my sampler farm and did a bit more of the over-one stitching.  I've not worked on this one much in the last week, but I'm really looking forward to getting back to it.

 

Here's a little close up of the over one stitching, which wasn't too awful at all!  What I find hard is solid rows/areas of over-one stitches--I tend to lose my place easily, but letters and borders are pretty easy (only I hate the counting part--too tiny stitches).

 

I've put in only a very few stitches on my Valentine Wabbit by Sheepish Designs.  I still hope to stitch this before the end of the month.  And thanks very much to Pam F. for sending along the ribbon that I needed.  What a lovely surprise!  Now I am all set to go, and really there isn't much to the design, so I think it's the finishing that is going to take a while on this one.

 

This is an awful photo (again no sun so I have no natural light to work with), so you can't get a good idea of that the colors really look like.  I've decided I do want to start this Quaker Heart Sampler by The Needle's Content.  I pulled out 40 count Lambswool, and I think the colors look okay on it.  It calls for Navy Bean, which I think is closer to off white, but we'll see how this works.

 

And one more.  I am hoping to finally start my Blackbird Design Mystery Sampler very very soon.  The first section is seen above and calls for Korty's Blend fabric.  I'm all kitted up and ready to go.

But first I'll me working away on my Quaker Heart.  Happy weekend everyone.

A Few Letters Short

It was my goal yesterday to finish the alphabet on my Quaker Heart freebie and do the backstitching around the heart (I plan on making this into a pincushion), and then maybe even put in the first few stitches on the reverse side's design.  I'm afraid I got a little wrapped up in what I was watching, however, Emma on Masterpiece Theatre.  I think I like this remake the best and will have to buy it for my little DVD collection (I only buy movies I know I will enjoy watching more than once).  There are two Jane Austen books I've not yet read, and Emma is one of them, and this made me want to pull out my copy and start reading right away.  As I'm rereading Pride and Prejudice at the moment I will save it for later.  I stitched during the news and then was just too tired and it was getting too late to add those final letters.  So I'll finish them tonight instead.  And maybe I can start working on one of my other Valentine projects now that it is officially February. 

Just curious--when and where do you stitch?  I used to take my stitching with me to work, but as breaks and a short lunch is just not enough time to really make any progress (by the time I pull out my work and find my place my break is usually half over), I've stopped dragging it with me (to say nothing of letting it get wrinkled in my bookbag).  Now I stitch for a while in the evenings right before I go to bed, and actually stitch in bed!  The bad thing is I am either too tired to work long, or would like to work for a while, but I have to get up early in the morning, so try and turn the lights out at a reasonable time.  Weekends are my prime stitching time generally, though I also try and get caught up on computer related things as well (emails, blog reading).  Oh to have a few more hours in the day--or three day weekends every weekend! 

Stitching Projects for February

Is it too soon to start looking forward to February?  I'm ready to put January behind me (and all this snow!).  And it'll mean it's one month closer to spring!  I decided to take advantage of the link Annemiek shared and have started stitching Piecework Magazine's freebie 'Quaker Heart'.  Here are my first few stitches from last week.

 

And I made a little progress over the weekend.  I am using my very favorite linen, Lambswool.  I love the stiffness of the fabric (which is easy for me to work with) and how it becomes nice and soft/flexible with handling.  I had a variety of colors set out to choose from but in the end I chose red as it seemed to look the best against the fabric.  It is pretty predictable, so I might stitch another one using a different color.  It depends on how fast the stitching goes, though it seems to work up pretty quickly. 

 

And I've pulled out a couple of Valentine's Day charts, too.  I am not overly fond of the actual holiday, which seems really commercialized, but I will admit to a fondness for Valentine's Day-related needlework designs.  This is an older chart by Sheepish Designs called "Valentine Wabbit".  I ordered my supplies--well, some of them. I need to read the materials' lists a bit more carefully.  I didn't order enough beads/treasures, but I should still have enough materials to start work.  And I am also missing a few floss colors and the ribbons (am not sure where I can order those).  I think I may change the phrase in the heart--what's there seems a bit cutesy to me (or maybe I am feeling especially cranky this winter).  Any ideas?  I could just stitch 'love'---something simple.

 

I stitched "Valentine Holiday" by Birds of a Feather before, but I gave it away in an exchange.  You can see a photo in my Picturetrail album in the 2005 Finishes section (scroll down).  It's not a great photo as I used my scanner.  This was before I owned my trusty little digital camera.  I didn't use the fabric that was called for, but did I bother to note what I used?  Of course not.  This time around I am using the fabric as listed on the chart.  It seems very red, but I am sure it will work just fine.  I think I will start with this one.  I am excited to finally stitch this for myself!

I'll still be working on my GH "Sampler Farm", but I really like having smaller projects on the go as well and being able to switch back and forth.  ...And after these I will start thinking about some spring designs!  But first things first!

Stitching Frustrations

I am a bit frustrated at the moment.  I am working on an exchange project.  We can stitch anything we like, but it has to be a freebie design.  I am stitching it on 35 count lambswool with one ply of floss.  As I stitch more, I tend to prefer higher fabric counts (35-40 count), and using just one ply of floss.  It seems to go smoother and my stitches look much neater.  Whenever I stitch with two plies of floss I feel as though my stitches look very bulky and I feel like they are not terribly neat no matter how I try and get all the floss to lay nicely.  So when I chose my design, I decided to use 35 count with just one ply of floss, and at first I was really liking how it was stitching up.  But now I am a bit undecided.  This is another problem I have--indecisiveness!  I keep changing my mind on things.  Since this is something I am giving away, I want it to look as nice as possible.  This freebie has a black bird on it, and I think the black on the lambswool looks rather skimpy.  Of course it is too late (I have too much stitched) to start it over.  So I chose another design entirely.  I am now stitching on 32 count, but I am stitching over one!  Out of the frying pan and into the fire!!  I love this new design, but now I have a new problem.  Some of the floss colors blend in very well with the fabric color, which makes it hard for me to stitch.  I have good eyesight, but my poor little nightstand lamp is just not giving me the light I need to stitch quickly.  Now that I have a little bit stitched, I can see the what I am stitching, but it is a slow process.  Once I decide which one I am using for my exchange, I will show you the other one.  I am also working on  a needleroll.  This calls for silk mori using two plies on 32 count fabric.  Again, I feel like my stitching is not very neat and the stitches are bulky again.  But I plan on sticking with this one, as I really like the design!

So what do you prefer?  Larger or smaller counts?  Do you like using one or two plies of floss?  Or do you stick with what the designer used on the model?  I know we are always our own worst critic--I would never be so critical over something someone else had stitched for me.  But for my own work...Hence my indecision!