Tarnished Gold: Honeysuckle Flowers

Today I started on the honeysuckle flowers!  I used one strand of floss and did tiny thin lazy daisy stitches and then added some yellow pistol stitches.  It's so hard to see in the photo because they are so tiny and it's blending into the background fabric(especially the ity-bity pistol stitches), but in person it looks just right for bunches of honeysuckle flowers!

Tarnished Gold: Honeysuckle Vine Leaves Finished

I took a week off after all that trouble with the bullions but today I resolved to finish it once and for all!  Again I kept having trouble with them but I am relieved to have them finished.  I am not sure why I had so much trouble with them this time!  Normally they aren't that bad, and it makes me wonder if it was the thread I was using instead of embroidery floss.  At least it doesn't really matter if they are perfect or not, the imperfections give the leaves character. ;D  Now I get to move on to the figuring out how I'm going to do the flowers!

Tarnished Gold: Little Honeysuckle Vines

 OY!!!  I love this idea of tiny honeysuckle vines in the background of the bird, but wow have I been having trouble with these bullions for the leaves!!!  First I figured out that even through I thought I had the correct needle that nope I hadn't actually been using a milliners needle, which I figured out after having tried a couple sizes of needle, then I get a real milliners needle and it's so much easier but then it was too big of a needle, so then I switch to a smaller one and have some trouble again and have to make sure my wraps aren't too tight etc.  LOL

Two bullions per leaf, and so far I have seven sets of leaves completed which adds up to 28 bullions in just this little area!  I had to call it a day at this point! LOL  My original idea is to have the honeysuckle flowers be out of bullions too but I'm thinking they might be too large if I do in comparison to the leaves, so I might go with some tiny lazy daisy stitches instead.  Not sure yet but I still have a ton of leaves left to finish before I get to adding the flowers.

Tarnished Gold: A Little Birdie

I got the idea to add a little bird, so I sifted through a bunch of vintage patterns to find one and this little guy is the one I chose!

I traced him onto quilters paper and then stitched through the paper and tearing it away when finished.

I don't really like using the quilters paper but sometimes it really is the best option.  The patch of fabric is one of those kind of fabrics that you can't draw on because it will snag and ink will run, an iron-on isn't a good option on a crazy quilt either...so quilters paper it was.  LOL  I really hate tearing it away!  There's always the water solvable Solvy but that wasn't viable either since crazy quilts aren't really made for getting wet either, especially this one.  And plastic is even worse to tear away than the quilters paper.

So does anyone else have a method that they really dislike but use anyway because it works and is usually the best option?

I stitched him in using different threads for the different areas, his wings are a variegated brown thread, and his fluffy area is a metallic thread, as well as his beak.  His eye is a little black sequin with a tiny seed bead.

I love how it seems that the lady in the silkie is looking at him!

Next I'm going to add some tiny honeysuckle vines in the background of this yellow patch.

Tarnished Gold: SRE Rose Motif Finished

WOOHOO The progress for this session got the motif done!  I love it!  I had one of the leaflets drape over the beaded lace seam and I really love the effect.  Then I added some little butterfly beads to continue a butterfly theme.  YAY now on to contemplating what's next!  LOL

Tarnished Gold: SRE Rose Motif Progress

A bit more progress, I filled in more roses and some stems.
I used to fiercely focus on projects working for hours and hours to get it done, but lately I've been taking another approach by only taking a couple hours a day to work.  So it seems that I don't get as much done but it's really just slow and steady progress.  I guess you could say tortoise instead of hare?  LOL  I want to try this out and see if instead of stop and go if I keep up with a more steady pace, which is why I've been trying to upload my daily progress instead of big stops at the finish of one whole motif etc.  I don't even know if I really have any readers left after such long absences that have been common in the last few years.  So I figure it doesn't matter if it's boring to see such little increments of progress, it will help me try and keep up a steady pace so it's worth a shot.  Why not?  What could it hurt?  And so that's why I've started blogging again like this. ;D

Tarnished Gold: Beadwork

All I got done yesterday was to finish adding the beads to the lace. I do love the dainty effect it gives!

Tarnished Gold: Roses

 I started adding beads to the lace, and started forming a rose motif in silk ribbon embroidery.  I added a red seed bead in special places in the roses.  The more open looking larger bud is a new creation I made as I went.  It started out a lazy daisy to which I added ribbon stitches to the sides and one to the middle and then added loops at the base.

I used some thread to baste a sketch so I will have an idea how to fill in the rest of the motif.

Tarnished Gold: Lace Added

I have added lace to the seams and a locket at the bottom of the silkie!  Off to add some seam treatments now!