No photos today ...

... because I am still working on prepping my piece for Linda's Round Robin and I want to have the entire border done before I photograph it. I have finished outlining all the medallions in a pale orange silk [a very soft and muted shade ... sort of a pale canteloupe] from Rainbow Gallery's Splendor line. I love these silks ... they are great work-horse silks ... not too expensive, 12 stranded, soft in the hand, in a wide range of colors ... perfect for the projects that are not necessarily going to become heirlooms. I filled in the lettering at the top [Autumn - 2010] in Belle Soie Paprika silk ... another very good work-horse silk ... not as fine as Threadgatherer or Gloriana ... but great for this sort of project. And now I am starting to stitch the acorns in the medallions, using more Rainbow Gallery Splendor Silks although I am doing the backstitching and longstitching in DMC 898 for greater textural contrast. I know a lot of people don't like to mix media but I frequently use silk, cotton and wool in the same project since I enjoy texture in my work. I'll be stitching my panel for the Round Robin in WDW and GAST overdyed cottons using a great harvest time scene from one of my Prairie Schooler Charts. I am getting excited about this round robin even though I have had to revert to 18 ct. Aida to comply with the rules ... anathema to a linen snob like myself ... and really irritating when it comes to stitching the quarter stitches in the acorns ... so much easier when stitching over two with linen. I probably have stitched on aida maybe five times in the last twenty years and I really dislike the stuff ... I don't understand why everyone doesn't switch to linen as soon as they discover it.