Getting into the rhythm of hand stitching

 Here are my evening companions from the last 10 days or so (I'm 'testing out' your pincushion, Mom!):

I've been working away at the hand stitching on my medallion panel. At this point, all my running stitch triangles are done and I'm starting on the satin stitch shapes to fill in the remaining squares. I'm happy to say the running stitch and I are reconciled. It is much more pleasant when there aren't a bunch of layers to work through and turns out looking oh so nice. 

When I picked out the thread colors, I wanted to keep it simple and not bring in any new colors in the border. I originally thought I would play around more with adding color, but I really like how the current colors are working together, so I kept reds, purples, and pinks out of the running. I do still have a pretty good rainbow going, though!

My original thread choices (on the left) had a couple of colors that just didn't pop on the linen when I started sewing, so I swapped out the yellow and green for brighter cousins (on the right). Having the linen background actually tames the brightness a bit so they don't look quite so neon.

Looking at this I have the impression that little birds with paint on their feet walked across the border. Love it. I wasn't sure how this was going to look since I liked the blank linen so much, but I have to say I'm really pleased with how it's changed the character of the block to something with a bit of whimsy. I've got 8 blank squares destined for satin stitch, I'm sure I'll only keep liking it more when I get that going!