Birdhouse Stitching

Good Afternoon!

I've been working on Block 1 from Leanne Beasley's Down in the Garden. I made it last week and wasn't happy with it. The fabrics that came with the kit were somewhat drab and weren't the same fabrics Leanne used in her quilt.  So I tried some other fabrics and I still wasn't satisfied. The fabrics were too "busy" and the stitching wasn't my best work.  I was in too much of a hurry. I tend to rush through projects because I'm excited and also thinking about other projects I want to do. I need to slow down and enjoy the process. Here's a photo of "Draft 2". (It wasn't even worthy of ironing!)

I started again, (I'm nothing if not stubborn) with a new set of fabrics. Purples, yellows and greens. Bright and cheery. (still having problems with my photos-ignore the green hue)

The pattern has you make the blocks first and then add the stitching. I found that stretched the stitching of the blocks and was awkward. So now I'm doing the stitching pattern on a large piece of fabric, then cutting it to size and sewing it into the block.

I'm taking my time, not trying to finish quickly but trying to enjoy the process. My stitching was much improved and I'm happy with the work. Here's the first "sub-block".

I used Cosmos threads. The scrolly area around the birdhouse was made with purple (#556) back stitch that was wrapped with gold (#575) thread. I'm very pleased with those results. The pattern called for small chain stitching in both the scroll area and the birdhouse. I used a wrapped back stitch in the birdhouse also, all the same color (#554). I did a simple back stitch for the leaves and vine (#924), and satin stitch for the flower buds (#556). the pattern suggested back stitch for the flowers but I found the flowers were so small the back stitches didn't work well. I substituted chain stitch (#556) in dark purple that I filled with straight stitches (#575) in a lighter purple and a french knot (#575) of gold in the center.

I need to get to work on my hand piecing project and my Simple Sampler. So much stitching and so little time!

Have a great day!