Why don't I know these tips after decades of stitching? Have I forgotten, or been clueless? Jeny's lower case letters are stitched over one on this 40 count linen, and since I have such difficulty removing over one on lower counts, assumed it would be near impossible. Surprise! Not when they are removed from the back of the fabric! Several times without issue, and I stitched the letter shapes to my preference. I followed Brenda's tip to use tent stitch on 40 when stitching over one. Maybe that's why it was easy to remove from the back!
The other tip I did know but it fell out of my brain, is Thread Heaven. I've always noticed how neat and slick the thread looks when first stitched, followed by a matte and fuzzy appearance after being handled during the continuing work. Several swipes through Thread Heaven calms the fuzzies, clarifies the thread's color, helps the thread lay neatly throughout.
Would this prevent the light to dark fuzz transfer in areas like the solid block? Another tip that fell out of my head is that the single stitch recedes if in place first. In other words, the lighter thread will get lost as it is pulled down when the surrounding stitches are worked. I yanked the leg's stitches up since they were quite puny looking. The two top critters will be stitched after the dark block is complete, opposite of what I did on the bottom, all with threads swiped with the Heaven. I have beeswax but since Heaven is colorless, will continue with it. Anxious to see if that results in a noticeable difference.
Phoebe is back. She makes such a horrible mess, difficult area to scrub and also because the wood stain, not paint, changes with cleaners and elbow grease. We have seen two Indigo Buntings so far and they nest low off the ground in bushes. Hopefully we will find the nest and create protection with a chicken wire circle or offensive smell.
Too many raccoons and cats roaming and I try to protect nest and bunnies whenever possible.
Take a look at the new size of PF garlic bread. Will be making our own now.
Eye doctor tomorrow, dilation does not leave me for many hours so no stitching for sure.
Had the phone ring early morning with the caller ID of Carole's facility. Yep. These palps won't be leaving for hours! Ordinarily starting on their own, a scare can send them into orbit. Thankfully, it was only an appointment question.
Enjoy your day!
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6 comments:
Oh, I never knew that about removing stitches from the back! Thank you, Marly. I was looking for my Thread Heaven the other day when doing some stitching with the bane of my existence--metallics. Couldn't find it anywhere!
Yes, birds make such a mess on porches and such. We've given up putting a spring wreath on our front door due to nesting robins each and every year! They're cute--BUT!
Shocking how much smaller all of our favorites are getting. Maybe that will help us all lose weight? :)
Have a good day--hope you don't get that snow that's in the forecast for up your way! ♥
Ugh...we have a "messy nester" right outside the garage service door and, even worse, on the porch beam right outside the front door. For years I would remove the nest after they were gone with the hopes they'd look for a new building site the following year, but nope...those birds either have long memories or these are highly desirable building sites LOL. The "downsizing" of things bugs the crap out of me. Last year I wondered why I was going through so much Miracle Grow when I planted less and watered less. Well, I had a box from the prior year and that was 1.5#....the new ones are only 1#. Same exact size box, same exact packaging, just a complete third less. They are the first to say "now 25% more!", etc. on their packaging, I think they should do the same when they "downsize." (Hey, it's Monday...and it's snowing....and there's snow all over the friggin' place, I can be cranky if I want.) ~Robin~
It doesn't surprise me about the shrinking sizes, not sure who they think they're fooling. One good thing about cooking for yourself - you can still measure out what a recipe needs. Though it's tougher when a recipe from long ago calls for a can or package of something - what size were they back then?!? How many do I need in today's sizes (I'm looking at you, tuna cans)? As much as I love them, I hope the barn swallows don't try to build a nest in our porch this year. They gave up for a few years, but were back last year - CDs hung up discouraged them though.
I never knew about removing stitches from the back. My fear would be by the time I flip it over and around, I'd lose track and take out the wrong thing. But I guess better that than snip the linen trying to remove from the right side.
Unfortunately Thread Heaven is no longer made. I tried to find it a few weeks ago. So sorry for the phone scare. Hubby and I have had more than our share of them over the past few years. Take a deep breath. Wishing you a great week.
Yup. Just yesterday was mentioning that a half gallon of ice cream hasn't been a half gallon in a looooong time.
LOVE your sampler!!!
Thank you Marly and never thought of removing stitches from the back.
So sorry about that phonecall that scared you.
Good luck with your visit to the eye specialist.
Take care,Truus from Holland
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