Gatsby

I ordered some Southern Belle white cotton before I read that it's not as good as it once was. It appears to be thinner than the Southern Belle I ordered from Trish Burr several years ago. Hopefully it will hold up to the stitching.
I started on the collar using 8 strands of  JE cotton padding and a double strand of white floche. I did not like it, possibly because I was not supposed to be using two strands for stitching, even though I tried to lay them properly with the tekobari.

So I ripped it out and used 2 layers of 8 strands of padding. I also decided to add another texture element by using Appleton wool instead of floche, to give it a softer effect. The wool is also more forgiving than the floche, and makes it easier to stitch.

The Nestlings Done

Decided to stop enhancing the nest:

Grub detail:

I'm excited to work on the Trish Burr whitework piece - Gatsby - next. Stay tuned.

Nestlings Almost Done

This is the nest in progress:

I need to stop adding stitches to the nest! I may call this done:

The only item left is the grub that the female wren has in her beak...

Top Nestling

The inside of the nest and the first baby are done.

Female Wren Done

Both wrens are done. Here are the two together.

The turkey work for her is on the top of her leg, per the instructions. Looking cute!

Next are the babies...

On another note, I saw this Trish Burr piece and had to get it. Since I've not done whitework, I also got the A-Z book. I already have the Prancer reindeer piece from the Inspiration magazine, so I'll see which one, if any, I will to do after I finish this.

Female Wren

Body is done. This is more difficult than the male, because there are less well-defined sections.  I added flat silk for the beak.
The tail is next, and even though turkey work is not called for, I think I'll put some in to match the male's - unless I can't find wool that matches the color.
I'm also considering adding silk to the eyes - to make them blacker.

Male Wren Done

Figured out what the turkey work is supposed to be for the wren. This is what the feather looks like:

Instead of doing turkey work - which I can't do well, especially that close to other stitches - I used wool, frayed it, and used a dab of JE glue at the back. I don't know if there's anything special about this glue; since it is used for JE it must be ok. Then I have to pick out all the black fuzz that ended up on the fabric. The male wren is done.

Starting on the female wren.