Margret Gatis - Day 6

Have not been able to stop working on this sampler.  It is actually starting to grow on me now that I have figured it out.  It is quite densely stitched and I chose to make some changes as to positioning of motifs, colors and stitches used and symmetry.  I am really enjoying the use/mix of colors within each motif and band.







Had a feeling that the braided area ( esp. blue area on bottom)was incorrect and after studying the picture it confirmed my suspicion - changed it to the gold.  Had to adjust the placement of the top braided area also.

Chose to do both square and round eyelets in this band - the chart and instructions only chart round eyelets.  Also chose to change the centers of the red flowers in the bottom band from simple cross stitch to a more padded stitch to give the center some dimension.  The blue dividing bands are also changed from cross stitch and backstitch as indicated to a double back stitch. 
The direction of the satin stitches is of my choosing since this had not been specified - was fun figuring out the acorns, the leaves and calyx area in the preceding band .... this is truly becoming a joy to work on.  The way the pattern changes from one side of the sampler within a band to the other side is actually quite refreshing (e.g. acorn band) and I am finding it much more interesting to stitch something different than just repeating the same old motif for the entire band as we often have to... once I had corrected the over two and over three area and arrived at the correct placement things sort of fell into place.  I am trying to use the picture of the sampler as a main guide for color placement but I guess even the colors within the braided area as charted would have also worked.



I am having lots of trouble uploading pictures this time - tried reducing the megapixel settings and reposting also - not sure what the issues are.

Margret Gatis - Day 6
The Song of my Needle