I am amazed that we are on week 4 already and it makes me so happy to see all your wonderful stitching and to know how much you are enjoying this SAL. There is so much work behind the scenes to get this sort of project to this point but it is all worthwhile when I see how many people join in and are loving the whole experience.
This week we get to add a nice splash of colour as well as add a bit more cuteness in the form of a sweet little bird.
If this is all new to you and you are wondering what this SAL is all about – please go to this page for all the details. You can join in anytime as the blog tutorials won’t be disappearing when the SAL ends.
So, on to this weeks block…
Bird and Flowers…
Can you believe all those colours make up this little block! The best bit is the red flowers – a nice pop of colour after all those autumnal hues.
Let’s start by stitching the Bird…
The birds body is stitched with Brick stitch – this is one of my favourite filling stitches as I find it adds a nice texture as well as fills a space quite quickly. If you prefer to use a different one like satin stitch or long and short feel free – the choice is yours.
I have used brick stitch quite a few times before and there is a tutorial here where you can see how brick stitch is done in more detail.
As you can see in this photo, the main part of the birds body is stitched in #833 Brick Stitch on a slight angle rather than being straight across. I don’t outline the edge but if you feel it looks untidy then go ahead and split stitch around in #833 as well to give a cleaner finish.
Back stitch the outline of the wing before filling in with Satin stitch – with the shape being inside one that has already been stitched – this just helps to create a neater effect. Make the Satin stitch slightly slanted across the wing.
If you need a bit of a recap on satin stitch – see this tutorial here.
The tiny details of the eye, beak and feet were stitched with 2 strands but if this is too chunky for you – use 1 strand.
Now the cute little bird is all done, he needs some flowers and leaves to blend into and this is where we get to use that gorgeous cherry red.
Stitching the Flowers and Leaves…
First Stitch the stems before adding in the flowers and leaves. You have already created some wonderful fishbone leaves in weeks 2 and 3 so this should be nice and easy by now!…
To finish the block…
#921 (2strands): Back Stitch around the edge…
And that’s Week 4 all done.
Share your finished block on the Happy Stitching FB Group or send me some pics and I’ll post them here.
Don’t forget you can also share your stitching on Instagram with #stitchdoodlesembroidery.
Happy Stitching!
Don’t forget – you can join in any time and take as long as you want!
Find out all about how you can get the pattern and join in with all the fun here.