Pumpkin progress!

I was meaning to provide a progress report on my crazy pumpkin earlier in the week, but life conspired against me. First, my husband's plane came in 2 hours late (10:30 PM) and I spent the next two days in a sleep deprived daze. Then there was the 4th of July, which was fun, but during which I contracted food poisoning. Needless to say, all of this cut into both my embroidery and writing time.

 

I did, however, make loads of progress on the pumpkin last weekend. Every 5th Sunday of the month, my local Brazilian embroidery shop hosts a 6 hour open stitch in. I accomplished a lot that day. And I was feeling well enough to go to the guild this Saturday as well, so I can report that the center motifs on my second crazy panel are almost done!

 

Many of these motifs are loosely taken from the pattern. These include the bee, wheat shafts, acorns, oak leaf and pumpkins. Most are done in simple stem stitch outlines, with maybe a few additional stitches--such as the lazy daisies on the wheat. The wheat was fun, because I used two different variegated threads. I like the strip of unstitched leaf. Sometimes it is just as important to know when to stop stitching, as to know which stitch to use.

 

The bee is satin stitch in boucle to give him some dimension. The acorns are boring stem stitch, but I tried to liven them up with color.

 

One of the people stitching along on this project poured beads down the side of her pumpkin. It really looked so lovely encrusted like that, but I don't do random very well (just look at my stars!), so I decided to liven my pumpkins up with some drizzle vines. I wasn't sure at first, but I think they turned out well.

 

The leaf again is just stem stitch. The final rose motif is adapted from my crazy patchwork pillow. I don't like how they are turning out. They aren't crisp and beautiful like the ones on my crazy pillow. I just can't remember how we adapted that motif. I may take them out, or may not.

I am not going to stitch a central motif on the top magenta patch. You won't be able to see much of it once the pumpkin is sewn together. Instead, I will concentrate on the seam stitches there and maybe make them a little more elaborate than elsewhere.

 

I am getting close. If I can find time to stitch while my husband is in town, I should be ready for finishing class at the end of the month!

 

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