Today I finished the stitching on Oakley Owlet.

I will get it finished up into an owl shape in the next day or so. I have done one of these owls before and it is not too hard.

So, I started another Just Nan small, this is the needlebook called Lady Scarlet’s Secret Garden.

It is the piece that goes in the enamel lady bug trinket box, part of a series of fancy kits Just Nan had many years ago. I felt super lucky when I was able to snag this kit secondhand for a decent price. The stitching is very minimal so I hope to have it done to show for my small next Friday!

Finally, my orange thread came! There is a clear winner:

I wasn’t going to mess around this time. I got the called for Valdani cotton that I’m trying to match (in the ball) to compare against the silks. I am going with the second from the top, Thread Gather’s Glowing Embers. Choice 1 is too dull, choice 3 is obviously too dark and choice 4 is just…wrong altogether. All these looked almost identical on my screen so it’s very good to have bought them to see in real life and not take a chance. I was actually pretty sure #3 would be the best choice based on the screen! And I thought #2 (Glowing Embers) would be too much-too orange, not enough variation. I feel sure 1 and 3 will be useful in other projects. For #4…well, maybe I’ll stitch a big melon someday! (it’s not bad, just bad for this project!)