Tanja Berlin Field Mouse

My next project is Tanja Berlin's Field Mouse. I got this kit 5 years ago (pre-JE), together with the Red Poll kit. After failing miserably with the Red Poll - it looked like a bird fluffed up with Salmonellosis, I shelved this piece. I'm hoping that I'll be able to do this successfully this time. This kit came with all the threads and pre-printed fabric, which is nice.

It has very detailed (and complicated) instructions. It's more structured than Trish Burr's techniques - possibly due to formal training at the Royal School of Needlework.

I can hardly wait to get to the mouse. So far the plants and especially the wheat are not fun to do!

Bee Eater Feathers

It is much easier doing random long and short stitches this way, particularly for the feathers; they are supposed to be sticking out and not lay smoothly in one direction. But let me not get too carried away - I sometimes mess it up right at the very end...

Trish Burr's Bee-Eater

While waiting for the frame for Gracie to arrive, I decided to do a practice piece. This is from Trish Burr's book Color Confidence in Embroidery. This is what it looks like from the book. It seems to have very good step-by-step instructions that I can follow - we'll see.

I used Kay Stanis' backing technique method to attach a grey silk onto the muslin backing. I used a pencil to trace the outline and was ready to start; but had to run to the store to get the colors that I don't have.