I was finishing the kantha stitching when I had a brainwave for the mottled batik piece of fabric on the left.
It’s something I’d seen somewhere on the internet – back stitched spiders web fans in variegated fine perle thread.
Great fun to stitch, fitting them into the corners and edges of the pale blue shapes.
And then I went back to the commercial embroidered piece on the right, adding tete de boeuf stitch (fly stitches caught down with a french knot, rather than a straight stitch) in the same size as the distance between the couching threads.
They make me think of fern leaves unrolling in the spring.
And then back to the chain stitched ‘portholes’. Last element to finish before I can start on the third strip.
I’m costuming our pantomime this year, so I’m aiming for a birthday finish (April) rather than Christmas.
Under A Topaz Sky 