Monday 6 July 2009

An elegant but quick stitch!

I am referring to the Peachy Biscornu from Heirloom Embroideries. I first saw this on the Basket of Biscornu and it has been in the stash for a few months now. This is the first side

Peachy Biscornu
This was stitched over Saturday afternoon and evening whilst watching the various tennis finals at Wimbledon. I think I could have completed the whole thing in two days if it hadn't been for finishing 'The Gates' on Saturday morning.

White Nights in St Petersburg
White Nights Part 3 is now completed, except for the beads which I will put on when I have completed Part 4.

Now I don't particularly like doing backstitch and so tended to leave it to the end, big mistake! The backstitch on this, one of Michael Powell's Tuscan Gardens, took ages.

Tuscan Gardens
With 'Reflections' I had learned my lesson and did the backstitch as I went along. Why do charts tell you to complete ALL the cross stitch first THEN do the backstitch? It's tedious! I bet projects have become UFOs because of it.

Mary Wigham has no backstitch and this is my progress so far. This is also the other reason why I didn't finish the biscornu this weekend, maybe next?

Mary Wigham

7 comments:

Marcy said...

Hi Jen. I like the dark blue thread on your Mary Wigham. It just pops agains the fabric color. Have you decided against using the other overdye? I wonder what it would look like with the dark blue as a "border" and the other for the internal motifs? Have you noticed if anyone has tried this?
Happy stitchin'
Marcy

Karen said...

Love your stitching. The biscornu is very pretty...love the colors.

Anonymous said...

What a treat for the eyes! All of these piece are so beautiful!

grannyanne said...

How different your chosen pieces are. It is nice to have a variety. The gates look fabulous and MW is coming along well too.

Justflo said...

What a selection of different pieces. I like your biscornu,very pretty, and glad to see your have hammered your way through the gates.
I agree about backstitching- total nightmare when left all to the end. Looking forward to seeing your next lot of pics. Will Santa be back or is he having his long summer hols?

tkdquintmom said...

I hate doing backstitching but some patterns they just don't look right without it. I try to do some of it as I go along. What a beautiful display of stitching you have there!

Maren said...

I also hate back stitching, but I always save it to last anyway. I probably make it even more tedious by doing it that way; you've probably got the right idea by doing it as you go, but I kind of like watching the design sharpen into focus at the very end.

The peach biscornu pattern is just breath-taking, Jen. Elegant and beautiful! Thanks so much for posting your corrections on MW, too. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your doing that. You've saved me a lot of unpicking. lol