Three Birds on a Branch

Hi there,

I was tired of looking at yellow basting thread, so just to see what the finished project will look like I decided to put in the long stitches that outline the diamonds.  Looking good!

I also finally chose the kreinik for the the little bird legs and beaded the last bird on the upper right section of the canvas.   So this section is done!

This leaves the lower right section with the tall flowers to do next, which I will tackle this week.  Shouldn't be too bad since I did the background already.

After this is done there is only one more diamond to stitch and 2 birds and then I should be done with this project.

This has been in my closet for 2 years and looks like I will be able to finish it with only 4-5 weeks of work.  Maybe I should try this again 😊

Have a great week!

Flowers and Birds

Hi there,

Here's the first pass of the big pink flower.  The entire flower is buttonhole with long stitches to fill in the gaps.  I only did the "fill in" on the outer dark pink layer.

And here it is completed 💕

Next,  I went down to the finch underneath - that's a LOT of beads.  I still have to do the tail, his beak, his legs and finish the branch - that's for today.

Here is a bigger picture

Once I clean up and finish this little bird it's back to the background so I can finish the yellow and orange flowers on the right.  I see my stitching pattern now... bird - background- flower-repeat!  Yes, there will come a point when I finish the background 😀

Happy Wednesday!

Summer of Ruth

Hi there,

It feels like I've been working on this canvas for MONTHS, but apparently it's been 2 weeks.   Such is the extent of my attention span.  I have been working on it for about 4 hours a day though without switching projects so maybe that's it.  I'm quite sure it's a record for me.

Here's 2 weeks of work.

Finally finished the background in this diamond! So now I can do the red stem and leaves.  And then the big pink flower.

Upper right section - finished the branch and two birds.  Trying to decide which Kreinik to use for their legs.  I'm leaning towards the one on the middle bird.

And the big orange flower is done!

Flowers on the left done!

Red stem and 3 big leaves are complete.

I am SO OVER the compensating, but today I get to do the big pink flower as a reward.

WHEN I finish this canvas I think I'll catch up on the Row of Ladies II.  I have all my Ruth Mystery Class stitch guides in one binder so it's pretty hard to ignore them 😆

Have a great week!

Still Working Everything Twice

Hi there,

It's raining today and we are still under the weather in a major way so I am stitching and reading and stitching some more.

Here's my crew looking for sunshine

Here are my first birds.  I have to do more background before I can do more birds.

This weekend I'm trying to FINISH the big orange flower and work on some more flowers and background.

I can do these flowers since I've done the background.

Here's yet more yellow floss and compensating.

My big orange flower, but when I got to the end of the outline stitch I realized I had done it wrong

And now it's right - looks a lot smoother.  Yep another do-over!

That's it for now!  Have a great weekend

House Hunt and Huge Finishing Haul

Hi there,

I know I've been stitching (and posting) almost every day but I have bronchitis and only really feel better sitting up.  Once I try to rest lying down I feel like I'm drowning.  Enough of that.

Today is House Hunt Day #2.  Last night I finished the background behind the little birds in the left hand corner so they are now ready to be beaded.  I did the first one yesterday - 2 1/2 hours of work.  Good thing I used clear beading thread or it would have taken longer.

As you can see I don't trust my compensating so this diamond was actually stitched twice - once in yellow floss with the complete pattern and then I went back with the grey floche to put in the stitch as compensated.  Yes I'm aware that the pattern in yellow is off - this was a photo of pass #1.  It takes longer but it's easier to rip out the practice thread than the real thing.  And it ends up being a  no brainer as to whether its right or not.

Here's the beaded bird that I did yesterday- 8 to go!

Today I started the big orange flower

Then I got the call from UPS - here's what the back of my car looked like after pick up.

And here is my Apple Banner - credits to Melissa Shirley for the design, Amy Bunger for the stitch guide and Ruth Schmuff for the finishing.

The Top

Another top view

The bottom - the feet are wrapped in ribbon stars

I also got MORE finishing.  This box from Enriched Stitch.  My poison bottle- another Amy stitch guide.  I think there's a whole series of these, but I only have one.

Side view - you can see House Hunt in the background

And two ornaments.   The one on the left is from Amy's Christmas Club and the Santa in the golf cart was from my stash. (Princess and Me?)  That's loose red thread on the Santa ornament - have to blow that off.

That's all I've got for now!

Linda

Coming Out of the Dark

Hi there,

Those of us from South Florida will recognize Gloria Estefan's famous song that she wrote after Hurricane Andrew (?) - Well whatever hurricane it was, we sing it every year when the lights come on after the "hurricane of the moment". Yuk!

This canvas was REALLY in the dark in my closet and I figured WHY NOT FINISH IT!  I've done half of the boring part (the background) so the fun part is just up ahead.  I have the complete stitch guide so now I can finish a background square and then do a fun part, etc.

I'm starting with the lower left diamond and then I'll do those 3 birds.  All the birds are beaded so if I do a few at a time I shouldn't get bogged down.

Have a great week!

The Apple is Done

All done except for the little leaf on top!  

Enjoy your Saturday!