Two Large WIPs

OK. I'm going to show off my current WIPs in hopes it will motivate me to work harder on them. I absolutely love the greenwork Country Cottage. It will go in my living room behind the couch. I hope to work one of the other homes in the same book to have a pair of them. (It's a large wall.)

I love doing blackwork because when there is only a backstitch or half stitch the row is finished the first time and I don't have to cross back over to complete the cross stitch. This pattern took some getting used to because it has the backstitch with one thread, a half cross stitch with one thread, full cross stitch with one thread and full cross stitch with two threads. It is a bit complicated but it really makes a great difference in the shading while still just using one color.

The next piece is my Promise Piece, Mirabilia Winter. I chose winter because I knew it would closer to that season before I finished it. Yes, winter of THIS year. I have high hopes and great expectations!

I enjoy working on this one because there are large areas of the same color. I do not enjoy patterns that call for many color changes every inch or so. This one moves along pretty quickly as well for that reason. I have the other three seasons that go with it and I'm still trying to decide which wall to hang it on. I would frame all four the same way and just change them as the seasons change. Appropriate, huh?