On any given day....




Really? In Colorado?



in my neighborhood you're libel to see anything. Honestly. Well actually, the camels aren't in my neighborhood, they're "down the road a piece."  No,  not at the local zoo or nearest Renaissance Festival, they reside a few miles away and folk tale actually claims they once roamed wild in the Colorado mountains... back in the day. Imagine how surprised/delighted I was when seeing these baby camels just hanging out and grazing in the pasture like ponies. It took less than a year to grow into young adults. They spit you know, so don't get too close.

 



 

Proud Coloradan






Yes Virginia, there are camels in Colorado!





And then to spy the three Great Horned Owl fledglings on DD's deck was a total unexpected pleasure. Funny creatures to watch as they seem to arobicize their necks a lot. On this day they were practicing flying from the deck rail to the nearest bush. Sooo cute. The mother (or father) was perched on the edge of the house watching their progress too.



Weapon of Mass Destruction



Cute Comes in Threes



Thanks for indulging me today while I share with you some of the reasons why we love living outside of town. It never gets old in terms of scenery and surprises. In case you're wondering if I've been stitching...I have. I accidently left my camera with my photos of Christmas Whimsy progress at DD;s house this weekend and will post in a few days. Hope you have a wonderful week filled with lots of stitching opportunities and good weather. It's been hot here allllllll summer and I'm over it....weather Gods out there are you listening? I'm Over It. 









(H)owling!

with joy since I finished stitching the clip-on owl ornie yesterday. The canvas by Labors of Love Needlepoint is so well painted and fun to stitch it "flew" by. Also, Toni Minieri has done stitch guides for many of  the different birds available. I decided to stitch the back side with 2 threads throughout where the front side body and wing were stitched with a single strand of Burmilana. I think the front looks a little more feathe-rlike than the heavier back. It's really not that noticeable in either case. My next thought is "Do I want to attempt to finish this myself?" Will keep you posted.

The feathers included are to be placed on the tail only, but I am tempted to place them elsewhere on the bird. Maybe over the wings? on the back? Again time will tell. A clip is also included making it very easy to clip onto the Christmas tree or elsewhere.  The finished size is 4"x 5" not including tail feathers; a nice size to clip on a larger house plant or any where really.

Many thanks to my dear friend Melanie for gifting me this delightful owl with all the trimmings!

My nocturnal bird of prey is moving right along!

Hi all! It's snowing and we're predicted to get enough to keep me inside for a few days stitching; a situation only possibly enhanced if some of you were here too! Pinch me! Thankfully I have all the important food groups covered (coffee, cream, butter, bread, chicken soup..);  my dear kitty Teddy nearby; broom and gloves positioned near the front door to clear off the satellite dish...seems as though all the planets are aligned.... Happy dance!   

Late last night (apparently I'm taking on the habits of my subject here) I finished stitching the back of the owl head using the Inverted Small Diamond Ray stitch; a great choice for feathers especially when you're trying to achieve a sense of order with how the "feathers" lay? lie?. Let me just interject something that I believe I've expressed somewhere on this blog in the past, about how I seem to fall into the same quandary when stitching a painted canvas.  The back of the owl head is a perfect example of the feather ruffling impasse I typically reach when trying to bring the painted canvas and stitch choice into harmony.

This canvas has been painted with near perfect uniformity when looking at the color placement for the feathers; this is wonderful if I were doing tent stitch, but in this project I am not because I want the chosen stitch to create the illusion of feathers. The suggested stitches and the painted canvas are perfect here....just not for each other. I'm not questioning the stitch guide at all; I'm merely saying that I don't know how to implement the two together.

The challenge for me is to reconcile color placement with stitch placement and I always seem to struggle when determining which takes priority. Unfortunately this slows down my pace, I end up ripping out and ultimately getting a little frustrated. Understand that while I'm addressing this project specifically, I often come across this conflict with most painted canvases I stitch. Maybe you can see what I'm trying to explain in the photo on the left as you view the stitched part of the body (using Offset Ray) versus the unstitched portion directly below. The wing will be stitched in a totally different way.

I am not trying to achieve perfection at all and yes stitching is about enjoyment, but I do wish there was some type of a "rule" or method from which to consider the various options? If only to move me a long a little faster. Believe me it's crossed my mind to ignore the colors painted on the canvas, and then using the feather stitch, alternate the 3 or 4 thread colors as I go along. Am I taking the stitch/color connection too literally? I don't know but I am hoping there may be a word to the wise (owl) out there from stitchers that may throw a (wing) tip my way.  I am all ears.