Birds in Autumn Part 2
Autumn is a busy time for our native birds. Food is plentiful and winter is ahead, so building up some reserves is paramount. Summer visitors fly off to warmer climes, but many species over-winter in Britain and shelter in our still plentiful woodlands, or visit the gardens of the many thousands who choose to feed them inreturn for their fleeting company. Featured in the first of this new series of bell pulls are representatives of seven bird species that stay here with us and enjoy the autumn feast.

Red Panda
Red pandas look very different from their better known black-and-white relatives. With their deep chestnut coloured coats, long, bushy, ringed tails and white cheeks and whiskers, they lookk more like raccoons. they live in forests high in the Himalayan mountains and feed mostly on bamboo leaves. This special Cross stitch design pictures a Red panda in a favourite place - high up in a tree - and shows off his elegant tail.

Blackwork Tiles
Flower gardens became fashionable in Elizabethan England, particularly with the discovery of new countries with new plants and animals. Embroiderers took their inspiration from artists' illustrations and from the first pattern books that were becoming available. Plants with scrolling stems enclosing a variety of flowers could be seen in many designs, with insects and tiny animals filling all the available space. Blackwork was one of the most popular techniques.
you can work the whole of this design as a delightful picture, or any one of the tiles to go in a card or coaster. Stitch a selection of flowers and plants, and a whole host of bugs - including butterflies, snails, grasshoppers, caterpillars and beetles.

Autumn Colours
Attractive weaving effects can be achieved using Swedish Darning tachniques on Huckweave fabric. The techniquues is perfect for furnishing items such as this stylish, quick-to-stitch cushion. All the hard work here is done by the fabric - it guides your stitches across it's width, creating patterns in warm autumn shades. And with these new pre-finished cushions from Zweigart this is a project that you really can finish in a day!

Christmas Colour
Those of you who have read New Stitches for a time will know that Mary can be quite fussy about the colours of threads used for Hardanger or Blackwork embroidery. For her it is like taking a piece of Whitework embroidery and copying it in coloured threads and still calling it Whitework. Perhaps I am just pedantic!
Anyway whatever we choose to call it once it is stitched, there is no reason whatsoever why the techniques of Blackwork and Hardanger should not be taken and used with coloured threads. Christmas is coming along fairly soon; there are wonderful threads and fabrics around. It is time to have some fun.