Second Practice Table Runner Piece Completed

Well, I finished my second practice piece for my lace-bordered table runner. Here it is, still on the frame:

I really like a lot of things about this. I think it's pretty, elegant, and simple. Aside from the Hardanger elements (the dove's eye kloster blocks and hem stitch), I used only three stitches — stem stitch for the vine; satin stitch for the flowers, leaves, and buds; and a few scattered French knots. Here's how it looks with the lace border:

I think the simplicity of the design goes really well with the lace. All the embroidery is very delicate, so it doesn't compete with the lace. I think there might be too many satin stitch leaves, though. I'll probably do fewer on the final piece. For comparison, here's my first practice piece with the lace:

I prefer the vine on this first one in some ways because it's a little more swoopy, with a few more elegant swirls, so I want to do something a little more like that on the final piece. I also prefer the buds on the upper left corner — there are fewer of them, and I think they look better spread out like that. So I plan to do that for all the buds on the final piece. But I like that my second attempt has only satin stitch flowers and buds. I think it looks better than the variety of flowers and buds above. It was just too busy the first time.

Confession: I love the shaded leaves on the first one. I actually prefer them to the satin stitch leaves, but they're too big. If I could improve my shading skills and do that on very small leaves, I think that would be perfect.

My plan is to attempt some practice leaves on a spare bit of cloth and see how it goes. Maybe I can get good enough to do a whole table runner that way.

I did order my fabric for this, but it hasn't even shipped yet. Apparently the store is still backed up from COVID. I'm also waiting on the larger Millennium frame, so I should have plenty of time to practice my shaded leaves before I begin the real project.

In the meantime, I have moved on to my Jacobean piece. I've got it set up on my Millennium frame and am currently transferring the pattern. But more about that in my next post.

I have also finally set up a Zoom meeting with a Japanese embroidery teacher for the Saturday after next! Hopefully that will go well and I can really start to make progress on my JE skills.