My hummingbirds on the Secret Garden embroidery project are not going to be remotely realistic looking.

I just thought I would clarify that before I go any further!

Despite all your wonderful input on the question of color on the hummingbirds, I still find myself with ideas, possibilities, and too many choices congesting my head. And so, I did what I usually do, and we’ll see if it works…

When I’ve got my colors visualized – by using colored pencils or paint to color the design (in this case, colored pencils) – I start pulling groups of floss that will work to realize my “visualization.”

Instead of pulling out floss in just a couple shades in a color family, or just one color family for a particular part of the design, I usually pull any floss that strikes me as somewhat similar to the color, and then I pull as many shades in that color family as I can find, from as dark as possible to as light as possible.

Then, I look for some compatible colors that work with this first bout of selecting threads, but that I didn’t necessarily work into the colored design – just in case I missed something that might work better!

(Notice a complete lack of “organized artistic method” here…)

Then, I eliminate a lot of the complimentary colors, keeping just one or two that seem to work best.

And at that point, I generally end up with a whole heap of threads, most of which I won’t actually use in the project.

The colors on the left are not necessarily in the line-up. I picked out some neutrals because I want some neutrals in there, but I also picked out a range of yellow-golds, because I want some yellow-golds in there.

These blues in the foreground weren’t an initial choice – they were a peripheral choice. They are super bright. I like them, but I don’t know if I like them for this.

And I’m missing darker shades of that green in there – I pulled that greenish blue for a highlight, not necessarily a base color. I want a dark green that will compliment it, but I can’t seem to find one in DMC that I like. This may necessitate a shopping trip.

Now, my next step is just to start stitching, to see if the ideas in my head and on paper will work out with needle and thread in the colors that I’ve pulled. As I work with them, I’ll make note of what colors I actually use and where I use them, along with what stitch and how many threads.

That way, when I write about the hummingbirds and show you what I’m doing, I can tell you what colors I’m using with what stitch, where.

Speaking of Stitches…

Another reason my hummingbirds are not going to look too realistic is my stitch selection. The birds are not going to be worked in a realistic needle painted approach.

There’s a lot of scope on the birds for some stitch fun, and – at least in my mind right now – I’m hoping to incorporate some variety into the birds.

BUT…

BUT – and this is a mighty big but – I’m really not going to make any decisions that are set in stone until I start stitching and discover what I like and don’t like.

And once I start stitching on the birds, who knows? I might chuck it all – from colors to stitch ideas – and go in a completely different direction!

And that is pretty much how I tend to work.

It’s silly, I know.

But I’m fickle that way…

I’ll be dabbling with the birds this week and sharing the process as I go along. We’ll discover together what we like or don’t like. I may like some things that you may not like. And you may like some things that I don’t like. There might be a little un-stitching along the way – but then again, there may not be!

It’s an adventure! Hang in there with me, and we’ll see where it ends up!

Do feel free to add input!