Change in set up

I had to stop using the suspended frame (from the ceiling in front of the sofa, if you recall) for stitching because it was leading me into "bad use" of my body. The cushions are old and the sofa is low and has very little support overall. Even though I put a board under the cushions I found myself scrunched up in a less than comfortable position all too often. Considering that I can spend up to 2 hours at a time in that position it's surprising it lasted as long as it did. For the past few months I've worked in that manner. But I was noticing it in my body so I took out my old stand and now I'm sitting in a proper wooden chair at a correct height. And it feels better.

Regarding needlework, the advice of not throwing anything away is well heeded indeed! I just finished working the petals of these orange flowers and was down to looking through the end pieces of prior work to find enough of the correct color. I used up every last bit of the lighter of the two oranges and I'm left with one strand of the darker orange, which I will need for a bud a little further down the tapestry. I actually had to use a short length of an intermediate orange to finish one bud (circled in red). It is totally unnoticeable.

When I have finished this "row" of stitching (which should be over the weekend) I will have only one row left and the bottom border. Can't believe it!

We had a strong flirtation with spring a week ago but have since had to contend with a bit more wintery weather. We had about 3 inches of snow Monday and there is another storm of mixed precipitation forecast for the weekend. Oh well, it won't be long now. I'm not having to stoke the fire as frequently now that the day temps are in the 30s and sometimes 40s, but most nights still need the heat.

With April around the corner I'm starting to think about which flowers I would like to start from seed. I suspect the price of potted plants will be quite high this spring so sowing seed will be much more economical.

 

Tapestry glitch and the Red Dress

As I am nearing the bottom of the tapestry, some of the thread colors are running out, as to be expected--as long as I don't completely run out. But I did run out of one of the yellows. My stitches are done in one of the recommended techniques (continental) and I think I'm fairly conservative in the use of thread. There was almost enough thread, but just barely not. Oh, well.

Of course, I can contact the company and order some more thread but they are in England and I don't want to wait for just a small area so I decided "to make it work". A picture of the affected Irises is below. Each Iris is supposed to be two-tone only, cream and pale yellow. The pale yellow is what ran out while I was stitching the bottom Iris. So I decided to use some gold wool to add shading to the blossom in two places. It works really well in one place because it's obviously the underside of the petal, and it works OK on the other petal. I hope the gold isn't too dark. When I've finished the whole thing I'll see what's left, thread wise, and decide whether or not the gold distracts. I think it will be OK.

It does mean this one flower is not in the same flat style as the others, but it's not too obvious and it's a big tapestry so I suspect it will go unnoticed. Truth be told, I like the shading.

Top Iris is all cream and yellow, bottom right Iris should be the same but you can see my use of gold to add shading:

 Yes, I think it's an OK solution.

Marion at Marion's World visited The Red Dress, a 14-year international collaborative embroidery project. It's spectacular! It is scheduled to come to North America next year I think, and I'm going to see if it will be anywhere near me. I'd love to see it in person. Extraordinary!

Politics

A political post because the times demand it.