And we're done........Mint is finished.  After stitching all the Milanese I finished the boxes and stitched a striped framing border. 

I used the Watercolour from the main design along with the overdyed Threadworx Vineyard silk.

 

I have an idea for the next project, something different.  I found a design on EBAY that came with all the threads to stitch the design and bought it.  Next post will show the new project.

Time to Rotate....................I rotated the canvas and finished all the Milanese stitches.  Using stranded silk or cotton floss slows down my stitching as I have to lay all the stitches otherwise the finished piece will not look as good.

 

This photo shows the color of the Watercolours thread better and also you can see the single tent stitches in the center.  Tomorrow I plan to stitch more of the boxes and then the framing border.  Almost done and then on to the next project.

On to the Milanese.........The Milanese stitches are in Waterlilies and Rainbow Gallery Spendor which both have to be laid.  I use a trolley needle and a wooden laying tool depending on how much room I have to work.  Once I finish this side I will rotate the canvas and stitch the Milanese and boxes on the opposite side.

 

The outer border is a square with tent stitches in the middle.  Once the design is complete I will stitched a framing border for the mat.

The re-landscape is finished......It only took 3 days to go from patchy grass to neat crushed stone.  Below are the before and after photos.

The beginning of Mint..........I've stitched the very center of the design and working on a border of Rice stitches.  The center is an interesting combination of stitches surrounded by two rows of Gobelin stitches.  A border of Rice stitches surrounds the complete center section.  I really love Rice stitches because they are interesting and give any piece texture and can be stitched in a single color or several colors for different effects.

Houston we have a problem....................Unfortunately I made my classic mistake of being 1 thread off.  If I ever make a mistake it is being 1 thread off.  I found that Section 3 was 1 thread off after being half way through Section 4.  So I fudged Section 4 to makeup the problem and I don't think anyone would notice.  I was not going to confess my miscounting however it happened again on Section 5, the red stripe is 1 thread off so it makes the pale yellow background not come out right.  I had already stitched Sections 6 and 7 before doing 5.  In order to be satisfied with this project I have to rip out all of Sections 5, 4 and 3.  So I have not wrapped my head around doing this so I am putting this project aside and moving on to a new project.  When my frame of mind is better and I have embraced ripping so much out I will continue on.

The next project is Color Delights - Mint by Kathy Rees of Needle Delights Originals.  I have stitched 13 or 14 Color Delights so far as well as several Double Delights.  What I like about the Color Delights is the finished design is 4" X 4", has interesting colors, is quick to stitch and Kathy chooses interesting threads that I would not select myself.  Kathy has opened my eyes and mind to using different threads and seeing the different textures and how light plays off the stitches.  Did I mention that Kathy is a genius when it comes to creating interesting designs and keeping the stitcher engaged.

 

Mint uses 1 Caron Watercolours, 1 Caron Waterlillies, 1 Threadworx overdyed Silk, 2 cotton flosses and 1 Rainbow Gallery Splendor.  As I wrote this I just realized this is the first Color Delight that I am going to stitch that does not have a metallic or sparkle element to it.  My phone just does not capture some colors very well.  The threads appear washed out but they really aren't and the colors are very nice.

Progress on the third quadrant........Today I came home and talked to the landscape contractor and found that the crushed stone will be delivered tomorrow between 10 am and 2 pm.  The front yard will be finished either Friday night or Saturday morning.  Demo started on Wednesday, the yard leveled and decomposed granite put down today.  Not bad for a yard re-landscape, 3 days start to finish.  I will post pictures of the front before and after in case anyone is interested.

So after talking to the contractor I was able to stitch Section 3 and most of Section 4 before going to Weight Watchers to weigh in.  Still at goal but need to ensure I don't go over goal again.