Stitch-a-Long update - a changing of projects!

Hi everyone!

Full disclosure -- I didn't finish the butterfly piece in time to give it to my Mom for her birthday... We decided to celebrate on the Saturday night rather than on Sunday (her actual birthday) ... and while I might have gotten everything stitched if not framed for Sunday night, well, it just didn't happen in time for Saturday night.

Still -- I did get it framed and am looking forward to giving it to her as a belated birthday present when she gets back from her Alaskan cruise! Here's a sneak peek for you of how it turned out:

I'm really pleased with it -- I know my mom will be too!

Now, I know what you're thinking... what's next?

It's a Glorafilia kit I bought nearly 20 years ago while living in the UK. A girlfriend came to visit and we did a little road trip to Wales, stopping in Chester on the way back to London. We went to an amazing stitchery store -- now gone, I think -- and each of us purchased absurdly expensive needlepoint kits. So expensive that we couldn't make eye contact as we left the store, and said, "We shall never speak of this again."

This "craft that dare not speak its name" has languished with me, moved from house to apartment to house, and though I occasionally opened it to look at it, it made me feel anxious because it incorporates needlepoint stitches beyond basic basketweave or tent stitch.

But after I successfully stitched and finished Mr. Fox, I feel more confident. And, hopefully, with the support of my awesome stitch-a-long colleagues, I'll get through this, too!

It's a big piece -- about 18x16 inches -- and there's a LOT of wool.

It's so big I can't fit the whole thing on my floor stand... but I decided to tack down half of it and get to work.

I'm clearly going to have to learn as I go along -- my instincts tell me to do the foreground items -- that is, the swans -- first, so that I can control the shapes of them. But at the same time I always like doing the light colors last so they don't get grubby.

I started with the feet ... not sure how to do the outlines. I decided to try just stitching all the dark blue and then add the stem stitch outlines afterward. Not sure that was the right decision, but I think it is turning out okay.

As for the swans ... I realized pretty early on ... okay, after some frogging! ... that the outlines of the birds and the feathers needs to be done first, and then the feathers filled in after. So I've been playing with that.

I think my next steps are to finish the outlines of the swans, and then work on the outlines of the leaves -- just to get all the shapes defined. Once I've done that I'll figure out how I'm going to stretch this massive canvas on a frame so I can work on it! I really enjoyed the floor frame for my last project and feel like it really kept me from straining my hands and wrists. So that's something to sort out in the next few weeks.

I'm writing and scheduling this post early as I'll be out of town on the 30th -- so apologies if I miss a late addition or update to the participants! We're headed down to Mount St. Helens to climb to the crater rim -- wish us luck!

When we return to sea level, I look forward to seeing all the amazing work my fellow stitchers are doing!

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Hayley, Tony, Megan, Catherine, Deborah, and Connie.