Folksy Fowl

There is nothing like seeing a photo enlarged to make you realise you should have taken  the photo after you hoovered. Lesson learned, well, maybe. This blue bird cross stitch was finished at the end of 2014 and has been waiting to be framed ever since. When hunting out WIP's last week I found it patiently waiting in the confines of a folder. Since this is the month of finishes I decided it was time that I framed it.

The pattern is from an issue of Cross Stitcher from early 2013. It's part of a series of birds (entitled Folksy Fowls) by Jan Prutton. I remember when I saw it that I instantly thought of my sister. Not because she is particularly fond of fowls but because of the colours. The matched her living room perfectly and I thought the pattern was kind of cute. Over a year later I actually started working on it.

That was in 2014 and this image was the first and last that was seen of it here (I may have shown updates on instagram).  It was actually very easy to stitch thanks to the large blocks of solid colour. It stitched up quickly. You would think I would like a challenge of lots of colour changes and I don't shy from those types of patterns. However, I do like to see a pattern develop despite the use of few colours (or in this case shades of blue and green). It also involved no back stitch. In my view any pattern that doesn't require backstitch is pretty much perfect. I used evenweave fabric rather than aida. I love working with evenweave. It's a softer material and the stitches flow much more smoothly.

I wish I had thought of photographing this before I framed it as the frame softens it a little thanks to the glare of the light. My sister was delighted with it. It helps that she was unaware that she was waiting on it. I may have told her I was working on something for her but I spend a lot of my time working on something for her so she would have been none the wiser. She has already picked out a space to hang it.

If you are wanting to try a large cross stitch project for a beginner then I recommend it. You can find the pattern in issue 263 March 2013 of Cross Stitcher. You might be able to get it direct from the publisher.