Friday, August 12, 2011

Plodding along


It's been hard to find time to stitch on the little Baltimore alley house lately. Sometimes I feel like one of those Chinese acrobats who used to keep seven plates spinning on top of bamboo poles. The second he had the seventh plate spinning, he'd have to go back and give the first plate another twirl!

So when I finished bricking in the center unit, it's not surprising I got a little carried away! I filled in two of the darkened basement windows with a satin stitch using DMC floss #414

I then moved on to the sidewalk under the partial unit on the right. This is being worked in a Nobuko stitch with DMC #5 perle cotton #644, a pretty good match for cement.

I haven't rummaged in my "foliage" bag yet--for some strange reason, I keep all the threads I use regularly for grass, bushes and trees in one plastic bag. I need to pick just the right shade of green for the leaves on the tree and make sure I have enough. If not, I'll need to run over to my LNS--I owe Barry a dozen Nutcracker Suite ornament canvases anyway!

4 comments:

Cool City Stitcher said...

I love the textures you have for the bricks and sidewalk and I enjoy watching your progress.

(Some days it's all I can do to keep just one plate in the air!)

Mer said...

Anne, this is gorgeous! I've really been enjoying watching your progress on the building (and your creativity as you added the molding!). What stitch are you using for the sidewalk? It looks great!

Needle Nicely said...

I grew up on a farm in Northeastern Maryland (North East to be exact--not very original!) and have always heard about the Baltimore row houses with marble steps. Alley house just doesn't have the same resonance and I'm sure that's why the common vernacular refers to them as row houses. And perhaps someone has written a dissertation about that distinction? Alas, not me, only curiosity.
Your architectural adventures are always enjoyable--thanks!

Anne Stradal said...

Thanks, Meredith! I'm using a Nobuko stitch for the sidewalk.