And Now Back to the Band Sampler

I finally finished the Town Square Cafe du Monde, which was my Town Square ornament of the month for June.  It took one entire hour to stitch the 35 confetti stitches that completed the bottom of the porch under the awning.  This was complicated by the fact that at least half of those confetti stitches were French knots rather than cross stitches.  I am still not certain whether all that confetti is supposed to represent flower boxes with French knot flowers or people seated at outdoor tables with French knot heads.  Anyway after the confetti, I spent another hour finishing up the backstitching.

Then I put away all the floss for this project and kitted up The Silversmith Shop which is my Town Square ornament of the month for July.  All I will have to purchase is a Thread Gatherer Silk'n'Colors skein and a charm for this piece. While I was at it, I kitted up Dragon Dreams Dragon of the Winter Moon which is my New Start for July.  I was pleased to discover that I had all five of the Kreinik Very Fine Braid, one of the Caron Waterlilies skeins, one pck.of the Mill Hill beads and a partial skein of Anchor Marlitte white which will substitute nicely for the DMC Rayon White this chart called for in my stash.  But I will have to purchase one Caron Waterlilies skein and 1 package of Mill Hill seed beads.  I will place the order tomorrow.

The weather is perfect for patio stitching.  For the rest of the day I'll get back to The English Band Sampler.  The plan is to complete the last 45 eyelets and the remaining satin stitches to finish up Band 6.  You may well believe I will  be pleased to finish these finicky and fussy stitches.  Normally, I enjoy all specialty stitches [with the one exception of the bullion stitch which I have yet to attempt] but having to constantly slip my needle under existing cross stitches was a major pain in the rump, complicated further by the closeness of the pale fawn floss to the color of the antique ivory linen.  I hope to have some fabulous progress photos in a day or two.

It will be such a pleasure to move on to the final band of this sampler.  I feel as though the end is in sight.  I know, I know: I still have to go back to Band 3 and decide whether to stitch my name or my initials, the year or a full date, or something else entirely.  But starting the last band does signal impending closure.  This is another closely stitched band so it is questionable whether I shall finish the sampler this month or next but at least a finish in the next little while is a reasonable expectation.