Slow Sunday Stitching--see more links on Kathy's Quilts blog.
Blackbird Designs' Loose Feathers #21 Garden of Life is getting closer to being finished. I stitched the large bird's body first and added the Smyrna Cross stitches in the wing last. A new to me stitch, it was fun and pretty fast, being worked over four threads.
I stair-stepped down the bird's back to outline the area. This nighttime pic is a bit off in color.
Daytime pic is better. I love the texture the Smyrna Cross stitch gives the wing. The bird got his legs and feet and the last portion of zig zag border was then completed.
While there is plenty of color in this design, I liked that the soft palette was limited--only two greens, pink/peach, blues, and ecru and a light taupe/tan. Left to finish are the rest of the phrase in green below Friends, and then my initials above the F in Friends. Oh, and a few light taupe highlights amid the flowers in the trees I skipped. I'll enjoy completing the last stitches this week.
