Four "F"s - ????

Drawn Thread's Violet Sampler

Seeing as I didn't post my progress after our long weekend in May, I thought it might be a good time now.  The "Four F-s"?  Frogged, Forward, Finished and Framed - 4 different stages for 4 different projects.  FROGGED?  That would be the Violet Sampler - the work I'd started on the chain stitch "filling" for the border wasn't to the standard I'd wish, so I unpicked it ("frogged", for those who perhaps haven't heard the term before LOL)  and will come back to that section later.   I did a little more on the body of the sampler, though - another alphabet, a couple of small motifs, and a row of satin stitches (I'm thrilled with how those look - there's nothing quite like the look of the AVAS silk for these).  Stitching on the dark background is the challenge here, and also the weave of the linen - it's an R&R hand-dyed fabric and I find the threads to be very close and tight; however, the colour's gorgeous, so I'm happy to continue :) 

Drawn Thread's Cloister Garden

"FORWARD" is Cloister Garden - another section done.  This one included an area in Queen Stitch, which I hadn't tackled for quite a while, and had to review the details of it.  I'm still not sure it's exactly right, but I think it looks ok (from a distance at least LOL) - it's the line of stitching inside the "pot".  And I'll have lots more practice in Queen Stitch on the Violet Sampler and my  Guild Anniversary sampler (a piece I haven't introduced here yet). 

Courtney Collection's  Red Bird

FINISHED?  Courtney Glau's Red Bird design, stitched with Belle Soie and AVAS on lambswool (probably 40 count, but possibly 36, I can't remember exactly ....).  This design reminds me of some of Emily Carr's paintings, with her images of the NW Coast rainforests.  Many other layers of meaning in it for me too, of course, perhaps I'll mention those later when it's framed.  Right now I've just set it into a frame that I may use after I've painted it. 

Gathering Honey - Framed and Mounted

And finally, FRAMED  - Gathering Honey is now framed and hanging on my main Sampler Wall.  I was able to use a lovely vintage frame that I had at home, and the framer found a mottled cream mat that couldn't have been more perfect for it.

So there we have it - four projects that were marching along, two complete, and now I'll concentrate more on the two Drawn Thread pieces with their multiple specialty stitches.  And of course, I just might pull out another straight cross-stitch piece to work on when I want a change ;)