Ten Days Into June
Here is a quick progress report for you:
I have worked on the Treasure Box. Even though it is on the Bucket List, it is not my favorite. I put it on the list so I could frame it in the beautiful box I found, but the colors are a little drab. Too late to change so I will finish it off, and I know it will be pretty. Just not my favorite. I should finish it as quickly as possible.

I decided to stitch the ogee outlines on the whole Bargello roll, to get a sense of its size, and because I knew if I did a good job with counting the borders, filling them in should be rather easy. I’m not quite down to the bottom tip yet but should get there soon! The whole length is 5 “complete” red and blue rows, and then the point which is just the center shape in red of what would be the 6th row.

I put in the first couched metal threads on Summer Casket butterfly wings.

Then I went ahead and completed the embellishments on one of them.

So…I have not done this stitch before and I learned something. The little piece of shell that is in the circle is attached by a shishka stitch. You put the shell in place with crossing threads in a star shape, then stitch a buttonhole ring around it. My first layer of crossing threads left too large an opening in the middle so my buttonhole stitched row is very narrow, much narrower than the model. (Here is the model below) Therefore my metal thread loop is not placed correctly. It is placed on the shell and not in the stitching. Hmm.

While it doesn’t look bad, I’m not sure how I feel about it. I feel like I might be happier if I redid it. But I definitely wouldn’t be happier if it came out worse, or if I ran out of thread. What to do, what to do? I think I will do the other style of wing first, and see how I feel about it after it’s been put away a few days.
The box lid is a pretty design but I can see what you mean about the colours.
With the butterfly wings, I would keep practising on the others and see how much thread you have when you have finished them all. Then redo this one if you have enough!
Yes that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I discovered last night that the veins on wing are also misplaced and I I’m just going to bite the bullet and redo this wing after I finish the others. It’s a pain but it will look much better. I look at the RSN students’ work on Instagram and how much they redo and I realize it’s just part of the process!
It could be a little more colourful, but it still looks good!
Your Bargello looks so nice and bright, great colours.
Maybe by now you’ve figured out the wings and are now a pro at it?!