Stitching with a Shimmy

Well, this week we’ve been fighting illness in the household. I seem to have caught a milder version of whatever it was the EO had last week.  Other than sleeping, and doing a little writing for business, I’ve been distracted and feverish. This is the result.

This week’s challenge is, I think an example of some ideas look better on paper than they work in real life. Once you get a detatched chain stitch big enough for a bird-body, you have to couch down the sides as well to make it stay remotely chain-shaped. And that’s easier said than done, especially without a drawn outline to follow! So, other than the bird, this is a pretty standard use of the lazy daisy stitch – flowers. The colors are brighter than those I usually choose – the background is a grey-green, and they do more than pop off of it, despite the appearance in the photo! As usual, click for more detail.

Sometimes the doodle works better than the embroidery!

One thing this TAST challenge is doing for me, is making me take an idea and run with it quickly, without over-thinking it. If I want to get it posted by Thursday or Friday, I really need to be finished by Wednesday or Thursday evening. Since I’m the consummate over-thinker, this is a good thing, I think. It’s making me try things with stitches I have in the past overlooked as too geometric to do my organic work with, and making me work quickly. Seven weeks in, and I’ve already learned a lot about myself and how I design!