An Old Needlepoint UFO and Critters

This week's been filled with happy things!  The flash flood receded and FH was finally able to get back to work.  The office building wasn't damaged at all!

It appears Pixel and Pollux might be closer to accepting Gus into their lives.

Pollux is also beginning to feel better finally.  We did have to put him back on steroids, but as soon as his IBD calms down, we're going to start weaning him off them immediately.

I did manage to find where I'd put the violet tool case this week.  It was in a seldom-used work bag.  So it's back in the queue of things to finish.  Hopefully this coming week.

I'd been wanting to do something different this week, but I also wanted to work on a UFO.  Happily my needlepoint heart sampler rolled out from the depths of the workroom.

I honestly don't remember when I started it, or even why I bought the kit.  I do remember having fun with the two green sections and being irritated when I figured out the two-tone pink section didn't look like the sample picture.  The lighter pink lines are supposed to be thicker.

Then I was frustrated by the cream sections of continental stitch until I figured out I needed to mount the canvas on stretcher bars.  Then I needed to rip out the cream wool (for the second time) and redo stitch those sections.  Then I figured out I didn't have enough cream wool left from the kit.  That's when it got shoved in a bag and forgotten.

When the heart rolled out, it was right before I was headed to a guild meeting in the next city over... the one where the needlepoint shop is located.  So I started frogging the cream wool.  When that was done, I did the solid pink section (reverse scotch stitch), just to have something else to do.

Well I got new cream wool on Wednesday and got going on the upper cream section.  The tension is still off, but that's due to a lack of experience/practice this time.  I briefly considered frogging it again, but the canvas was started to show signs of wear.  Samplers were meant to be teaching tools and proof of practice anyway, so I left it in.

The background was fun to stitch.  It's pearl cotton done in a reverse continental stitch.

I still need to get the embellishments done and fill in around the background with something.  That way plain canvas won't show along the edges when it's framed or turned into a pillow.  Unless I turn it into an ornament or something.  But then all the neat texture from the pearl cotton would be lost.

But since Wednesday I finished four sections of this canvas, so I'm pleased!

That's all this time.  Depending on how fast I get the embellishing done, I should have more than one project to show off next Sunday.  But we'll see when next week rolls around.