Pleasant Words

Fabric: 28ct Antique White Monaco
Design Size: 3.57" x 9"
Start Date: March 2, 2004
End Date: March 20, 2005

I like bee designs. This is a freebie that I thought was cute. The chart was a PDF file that was somewhat hard to read, and even though the design uses bee and heart charms, the type/manufacturer are not mentioned at all in the chart. I've read a few times online that Lorri Birmingham's charts have a reputation for being difficult to read and/or they frequently contain mistakes. But the badness of this chart might be more the fault of whomever converted it into a PDF file than Lorri Birmingham's. In any case, I trudged on, guessing on colors and backstitch lines here and there, and ended up with something that was nonetheless lovely. I intend to finish this as a wall hanging.

I used two different sizes of bees -- 1/4" brass bees for the hive section, and a 1/2" gold bee for the bottom stitched heart. I coated the brass bees with clear nail polish, which I heard will help prevent tarnishing, before attaching them with floss matching the background color. I didn't bother polishing the shiny gold bee since it appears to be a goldtone plating that probably won't tarnish.

Changes:

border and sky - Dinky Dyes #10 "Cloudy Sky"
lettering - Needle Necessities 130 "Woodland Fantasy"
pink hearts - I couldn't find quartz so I used Mill Hill Glass Treasures 12086, which conveniently came in a pack of four.

I also changed the lettering from backstitch to over-one. I have this aversion to backstitched lettering for some reason. I know over-one lettering takes like ten times longer to do, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

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