Just Goofing

I'm just goofing off today.  I finished the Just Nan limited edition mouse.  I love it.  I need to put a spot of glue on the whiskers so they won't just pull out.  I think I did pretty well finding linen in my stash the right color.  I bought a bunch of small leftover scraps of fabric from The Silver Needle and one was a very good gingerbread color.  I didn't even count the threads to see if it is the right size.  It was a fun stitch.

I goofed around with some of the 40 count linen that I got with my casket in mind.  It was suggested in this month's lesson in Cabinet of Curiosities that we stitch just one part of the casket and frame it.  So I picked a small side and stitched the first line of the poem that I wanted to put around the casket.  That turned out fine. Then I went to the window and traced with a micron pen a design for in back of the words.  I tried stem stitch for the vine with one strand, then I tried it with two strands.

I like the two strands better as it stands out more like a vine.  I tried the technique where you tent stitch the outline with a darker color and fill in.  I found out that the darker color needs to be really darker to be noticeable.  I learned that I don't really want to do a whole casket over-one on 40.  ARGH.  I want to try a leaf in cross stitch over two and see how that looks.  I'd also like to try embroidering a flower and see if I can stand it.  This is just a learning scrap to help me figure out what I want to do eventually.
I am getting the hydrangea design that just came in the mail all set to stitch on the silk gauze.
Today is a day full of possibilities.
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