Last Day of August Stitching

The end of July I wrote this post about my stitching plans. I had planned to work on Friends & Family from August 1 – 15 and I did. On August 11 I reached my goal on that one and started Rejoice Evermore on August 12. This is where I was when I started back to working on it.

This is where I am today.

I had hoped to finish this section except for filling in the house but that’s not going to happen. I have some amount left on the birds, a good many leaves, a short verse, a few doo-dads and filling in the octagon. I’ve considered continuing working on this one until it’s totally finished but I’m not. I’ll put it back on my schedule after the first of the year.

Two things I did that made me happy: One, I made Algerian eyelets for the first time. They aren’t perfect but they aren’t horrible. There are nine more to make so by the time I’ve finished those, hopefully they will be looking a bit better.

The second thing I did was figure out how I wanted to stitch the birds’ wings.

The chart shows making long satin type stitches for the feathers but I wasn’t crazy about the way that looked. I’m using Vikki Clayton’s silks for this project and for the “long” wing feathers, I used a lighter, brighter aqua of Au Ver A Soie, which is a bit thicker than Vikki Clayton’s silks. I ran one long stitch to create a bit of “padding”, then cross stitched over them. Since the floss is a bit thicker and the padding is there, they are a bit raised – maybe not even so much that anyone would notice but I think it’s enough for some definition.

Today I plan to finish the feathers with the Au Ver A Soie so I can get it put back where it belongs. I plan to stitch the verse and then work on leaves. Tonight I will put Rejoice Evermore away and get it back on the schedule as soon as I can. I want this one finished, framed and on a wall.

Tomorrow is September 1 and I’ll get back to working on Summer Schoolhouse.