Bluebirds needlepoint cushion

In September last year I bought this Bothy needlepoint cushion kit from The Fox Collection. I had forgotten I already had a similar peacock kit, but I do love a bluebird. I can’t hear the word without doing my Vera Lynn rendition.

I really am trying to keep stitching as I buy, but I don’t consistently manage it. In March I also succumbed to  an Ehrman kit for a poppies cushion. So, a year on, I set about working the Bluebirds.

I mounted the canvas in a roller frame which I clamped on to my Lowry. The roller frame was adequate. One of  the four wing nuts had worn out the thread and wouldn't grip. I could just manage with the others working.

I began in the centre and worked out. Unlike the last needlepoint cushion I did (the bee), this one is patterned all over, with tiny figures rather like a Morris wallpaper, so there are no big blocks of either background or figures. The white background is a pattern in itself, requiring not much less concentration than the figures. This makes working it more interesting- but slower. I now think it also meant my tension was more variable.

I worked sections at a time, beginning with the green leaves, then the red, then the blue and finally the white background. I put the tiny touches  (centres of eyes & flowers) at the end. This gave me some sense of progress and satisfaction in what proved to be quite a complex project.

It took me nearly a month to complete the first section of the roller frame, which was, I think, about 60% of the canvas.  I finished as much as I could on the first section late at night and went to bed happy, leaving it until the morning to rotate the frame and complete the challenge.

Completeing the green and starting on the blue took several days.               
Once the tedium of filling in the white was over, I set about adding a border, to make the cushion about 6cm wider. I'd rather have a 44cm cushion than a 38cm one.                                                                                                                

 I had quite a bit of creamy/white wool left, and a whole lot more in my stash from previous projects. Rather than stitching rows and rows in the same direction, I decided to stitch it in blocks, alternating the stitch direction in each one. The white wool was mostly in hanks and the shade inconsistent, either from age or dyelot. I figured the variation in direction would make this less a problem. As I got started on this, the roller frame was proving a liability. It loosened as I worked and tightened only partially.                                                      By now two of the four wing nuts were refusing to turn. I did a search on local slate frames. There was very little on offer, but Create in Stitch has a local maker, and managed to source one for me in seven days.  I picked it up within an hour of the phone call.                                                

It was newly waxed. I was setting it up within minutes of arriving home.     While it's a bit large with the full cushion exposed, I wanted to see the full border as I worked it. I had completed most of the side borders on the roller, but slate frame held the canvas taut and the Lowry allowed me to rotate the frame and keep the working surface in front of me.   

I worked on it every time I could manage to finish it over two and a half days. While it takes up space, it is a much better working set up.

The slate frame packs up fairly conveniently. It will store with the two Swifts!

It is now being blocked. The variation in the cream background looks a bit better. I used all the spare cream thread. I panicked a bit when I picked up the slate frame. Create in Stitch don't carry tapestry wool, so I called at The Needle Nook and bought their last two skeins of DMC Ecru. I didn't need them - but I came within 40 cm!

I have ordered 3 zippered cushion backs on eBay, which are on their way. The seller has a UK address, but I very much doubt that's where the parcel is coming from. There is no tracking, and it's predicted sometime in the next fortnight.

I'm not holding this post to include the construction. The post is alread too long and it could be a long wait.

I think I'm going to like the result. I'm planning to take a break from needlepoint until after Christmas. As much as I like it, you can have too much of a good thing!