First try!

This was so fun once I got going. But I was scared before I started. As a warm up and to see how various threads performed on the fabric, I put each thread through a variety of line designs. This was a useful activity. It helped me over the quilter's block hump and it was good at the end to see the difference in the threads. This photo shows 3 different colours of King Tut in the foreground with three colours of Bottom Line in the middle. Click on the photo to get a better view. The photo below shows a view of the King Tut threads on the cones; Sunstone #982, Shekels #985 and Nile Delta #934 underneath. As you can see the block of colour that you see on the cones plays out quite differently as a line of thread on the fabric. For example, Sunstone on the cone looks a pale buttery yellow but against the dark fabric it read more like white.

I really was nervous about doing the flowers. But I found drawing with the thread so much easier than the pencil. I began with a simple outline, working from the inside out; first the stamens, then the round frilly bit and finally the outside petals. I echoed the lines and filled them in and echoed again. Thread is so forgiving! Any mistakes were simply covered over with more thread. I ended up using King Tut, MasterPiece and Rainbows the most. I spent a couple happy hours doing this. When I finished I was really "chuffed!" (that's English for well pleased!) There is something liberating about this sort of free motion embroidery. I enjoyed it so much - I'll be doing more in the future.