Tree Fern - March Progress So Far

I have been working, albeit intermittently, on the Tree Fern macro piece. Thank you for your comments and suggestions on blending in the colours.

Ati's (Ati on the Crazy Road) suggestion of using tea to dye the pale stitches was very tempting (what a great idea - I'm saving that one for later). In the end I decided to try and blend the lights and darks using a range of tones.

This is my progress so far. Still a way to go, but I am now much happier with how it is going and can see what I want to do now - when I get some time...

It won't be finished by the March TIF deadline...but this piece has been evolving for a year or so now, and is a step in my own creative style development so that doesn't seem to matter so much...

This is my favourite bit so far.

As usual, life is in the time of pre-Christmas holiday madness. I am really looking forward to time off and starting the new year with a new challenge.

Long ago I realised that new year's resolutions were not for me - I usually last until the 3rd week in January! But this year I am looking forward to replacing Take A Stitch Tuesday (TAST) with Take It Further , Sharon B's new challenge. This time it is a monthly themed design challenge with weekly reports of progress.

I've a few TAST stitches yet to post and it is week 50 (already?!). But I will finish them at some point soon!

The photo is of tree bark from Darwin Botanical Garden earlier this year. Just an amazing texture...