Rats!

:((   :((   :((    That's me...pouting.  On my Weihenburg contest sampler...I am just not happy with the Belle Soie Rose of Sharon thread.  Don't get me wrong~I think it looks fine when it is stitched.  However....there are these "shadows" that are beginning to show up on the darkest portion of the red where it is stitched.  Almost like a halo effect...or as if I had stitched it once and removed the stitching....those kind of shadows.  I think the thread is bleeding into my fabric from me handling it while I stitch.  Not a good thing, since there are only two motifs stitched and a lot more to go.  It will look like a total blur by the time I am done.  (I know it doesn't show well on this photo, but believe me..it's there, and I think it will just get worse as I go along.)

  So decision time last night.  I almost finished the second motif when I finally just said "not gonna happen...". 

A few years ago I stitched Carriage House Samplings Quaker Motif stocking.  I really like the colors I had used for that one.  With stocking in hand I went to my various threads (since I didn't remember the color numbers).  I picked some threads that were similar, but not the exact ones.  Here's my little test sample...using Crescent Colours Hickory Sticks, Silk 'n Colors Mudpie and Cherrywood (just the more brick colored portions of the thread), stitched on Legacy Linen 34 count Wren Wing. (sorry...it's a bit blurry...but you get the idea.) 

:)) :)) :))  I'm happy now that I can continue with the sampler without having to constantly worry about the red thread.