June WIPocalypse update

I cannot believe we are halfway through the WIPocalypse year!  Six posts down after this one, and six more to go.  Time has been flying by this year.

Since the last official update, I have devoted all of my stitching time to Sous le Soleil.  I know I have posted some update photos since last month's WIPocalypse post, but I'm going to backtrack just a bit.  At last month's post, I was here:

 and as of today, I am here:

 I got a ton done two weeks ago when I injured my foot.  I slowed down some last week (and haven't stitched at all this week due to traveling).  And this little motif right here is the main culprit for the slow down:

This pattern is in French, and for the most part that has not been a problem.  But the smaller specialty stitches you see in this photo are called "Point de rose".  I could not find an English version of this stitch, which is literally a "rose stitch".  The instructions in the chart tell you to 'broder la perle au centre avant de commencer le point' which I took to mean 'attach the bead in the center before starting the stitches'.  Which would be fine if the pattern called for beads.  But it doesn't.  So I made up my own stitch.  It looks, well, stitched, so I guess I'm happy.  I'm calling it personalization.  : )

There's still a ton of work left to do on this piece, but I sort of feel like I'm on the home stretch.  Maybe I'll have it finished by the time next month's update rolls around!  Maybe.  Meanwhile, I have pulled out 3 patriotic patterns that I would like to stitch this summer.  Naturally, I do not have all the fibers that I need for any of the pieces.  I placed an order for the threads about 3 weeks ago.  And I'm still waiting, waiting, waiting.  Hopefully, I'll get the fibers in time to actually start one by the 4th of July (although I'd rather have them in time to FINISH one by the 4th of July).

The house is now almost entirely unpacked.  While sorting through the linens, I came across this:

It's a small piece of Ukranian cutwork that I made about 10 years ago.  I took a correspondence course through EGA and then pulled from a selection of motifs to make my own overall design.  I was really proud of my finished piece, but I had to put it away shortly after I finished it because I adopted my first cat (or she adopted me), and she considered the little runner to be a great place to take a nap.  Now it's on the dining room table and anchored by the two candles.  So far, it has stayed cat free.  Here's a closer shot of the cut and pulled work.

  In other, non-stitchy news, I found this feather lying in our driveway this morning:

It's about as long as my hand from the base of my palm to the tip of my middle finger, and it certainly did not come from any of the birds hanging around our bird feeder.  And it looks so downy, there must be much longer, less fluffy feathers on this mystery bird.  So I'm thinking that this came from a really big bird.  I wonder what it could be?

Sadly, the birds nest that I shared in my last post has almost certainly been invaded by a cowbird.  There is one less egg in the nest, and the biggest egg is even more obviously different from the others than it was before.  I hate that this happened to the poor finches, but I don't know that there's anything I can do but let nature take its course.  Sigh.

And on that rather sad note, I will sign off.  Til next time, I hope everyone has a lovely, crafty day.