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Veterans’ Day Almost Finished

Please read all the way through because I have a question for you. I need your opinion and I know I can always count on y’all for an honest opinion!

As you might have guessed, I haven’t stitched a whole lot these past couple of weeks. With Addie having been here two weeks and having felt bad, I just didn’t do much stitching, which kinda makes no sense because I didn’t start this til July 1 and I think I got Addie on July 2 so I must have done more stitching than I thought while I wasn’t feeling so great.

Since this is a piece I have on the stitching app, it was easy to see how many stitches I did per day. I’ve learned, that with the way I do things – cooking, spending some time outside, time on the computer, running to town with Vince, etc., my average number of stitches per day is about 250 – 300. It’s only on those really good days that I get 300 stitches done and if I had to plan an exact finish for a project, I’d count on doing 250 stitches per day.

Yesterday I sat in my chair almost all day. I didn’t leave the house. I might have spent half an hour outside. We had cabbage rolls out of the freezer for dinner. Other than taking a two hour nap, placing an online grocery order, then putting the groceries away, I don’t think I did anything except stitch.

I didn’t even know 600+ stitches per day was possible for me but . . now I know. I don’t think I would ever count on doing that many consistently but it is nice to know it can be done.

I am almost finished with Veterans’ Day at Twin Gables by Heartstring Samplery. You will see that I changed a lot of things. Most of the changes were made because I used Sulky 12 wt. thread and there aren’t enough colors to accurately match the colors of DMC or overdyes. When it came to the shades of tan and beige, I couldn’t get good matches and since I prefer more color, I changed part of the building to blue, and I changed the big planters to blue. Also, in the text box, I added my uncle’s name and the year of his birth and death.

I still have to finish stitching the planters, complete the black flag and fill in the light stitching for the buntings and flags. I should be able to get all that done today.

Question: The text box in the chart only has “Some Gave All” and the background is stitched in a pale, mossy/gray green. I had planned to do that so I stiched the birth and death years in the light shaded ecru. It would show up fine if the background was stitched with that grayish green. But, after looking at the whole piece, I think since I enlarged the text box, filling in the background would be a bit overpowering for the entire piece so I’m leaving off the background stitching.

Should I rip out the birth and death years and stitch them in a darker color?

If so, I’ll probably use a light blue. My first thought was to rip it out and re-stitch it but then after I went to bed last night, I was thinking that when I go to the old cemetery where my family is buried, including Charles, the old headstones are hard to read. Maybe leaving it this blending shaded off white is ok??

I am framing it myself so at any point before framing, I can change the color but I’d like to get it done today or tomorrow and be finished.

So . . what do you all think?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Even though you can read the dates–they are very faint. You don’t want them to be the main focus, but redoing them in a bit more color might be a good idea.

  3. I can read them easily in your photo, but the angle may affect how much the dates stand out. If you want the dates be something your eye is drawn to, then re-do them in a darker color. If you want it to be subtle, then leave it as is. It’s gorgeous either way!

  4. I think it’s fine the way it is (especially with your reference to old graveyards). The important things: his name and the quote, stand out. Plus it’s balanced because the light dates are in the middle.

  5. I like the dates to be there as they are. They are very readable but the focus is on the name and sacrifice.

  8. You also could just do one leg of each stitch. It would be soft looking and still help the letters stand out. Of course it would also be fine if you decided to leave it as is.

  10. Can you just put a box around the dates and color it in with a background color that ties in with the flag on that row? It might look good because the flag is rectangular.

  11. How about outlining the dates in a slightly darker color – enough to highlight the numbers, but still having that faded look. You could use one strand of the thread to outline the outside as well as the inside of the numbers.

    • This is what I was going to suggest also. Maybe use a light brown.

  13. I would change it to the blue. Not only would it make the dates more visible it would bring some of the blue to the bottom and balance it.

  15. I would look at it with the frame colour around it as the framing can change the look of colour both in the background fabric and threads.

  19. After reading the comments, I went back to the picture and did that “first look” assessment, and the thing that stood out to me is that the dates get lost, and I think the dates are very important, so I’d go darker. Nice work!

  21. I wouldn’t change the dates. Being lighter, you take a second look, which adds importance to them. And I like the fact that the rows in the block are red, white, and blue.

  22. The dates are significant to this man and his patriotic influence. They are too faint to me and I would restitch a bit darker. It’s such a small number of stitches and would not take long at all to do.

  24. I think I would change the color. I know that is a lot of trouble, but I believe it will stand out better.

  26. I’m not a stitcher so don’t know how much work is involved but I would go darker. Love it and I’m sure your Dad will too.

  27. I like it the way it is, but if I changed the colors I would go with a gold (like the eagle)…..in other words, I’m no help at all, LOL.

  28. I would leave the dates the color it is – gravestones fade with time, and the dates remind me of that. However, to make the dates stand out just a little bit couldn’t you do a tiny bit of embroidery with a shade of slightly darker brown or even some shade of gray to outline the dates? I was thinking a simple running stitch with maybe 2 strands of embroidery thread around each part of the letters. I think it would add a bit of focus to his service — he gave the rest of his life for his country. It’s turning out beautifully….

  30. This is so beautiful! But I would redo the dates in a darker thread.

  31. i would backstitch the numbers in a thread the same value or a little darker than the darkest thread in the cross stitches. Backstitching,even in the same color, adds definition which will make the dates pop in my experience

  33. Judy, I would pull your skein or spool of thread out and pick a section with darker colour and just do the 1 and the 9. The rest show up fine to me. By the way, I am out of hospital and feeling much better.

  34. It is a lovely, meaningful piece. I would either leave it as is now or, at most, outline stitch with a thread equal to the darkest shade in the dates as they are. I don’t think changing to one of the blues would be quite as pleasing to the eye. IMVHO

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