Take a stitch Tuesday

Yesterday I happened across an embroidery website by Sharon B. called pintangle.  She has a fun challenge going called Take a Stitch Tuesday where every week she posts a different embroidery stitch to explore, create, post, and share.  I’d been looking for a quick portable project for Playday—wedding dresses are not at all portable—and I had to have something to work on.   This little guy was already on my design board stitched to a scrap of nuno felt from a previous playday.  He was just crying for some embellishment and was the perfect canvas for embroidery.   Playday was today and I had a great time.

This week’s challenge stitch was the Herringbone, seen over the curving yarn running down the left.  I decided to use all the stitches from the beginning of the challenge.  Those are Fly stitch, Buttonhole, Feather stitch, Cretan stitch, and Herringbone.  Somehow the Cretan stitch didn’t make it in the final project.  The Cretan stitched heart in the center of his chest detracted from the whole design and I removed it.  In a quick design decision, I just left that stitch out.

I like the sparkle of a few beads.  If I’d had more time, I’d have put in more.

The face is done from a photo.  My friends today at Playday thought it was Martha.

Surprise!  It’s my adorable husband.  He thought it was Martha too.

This face is the second of two embroideries done from this photo.  The first is also still on my design wall on a piece of nuno felt.  It’s a favorite of mine.  Yet somehow it doesn’t seem to want to be made into anything.  I’ll save him for later.