Work in Progress Wednesday - Pansy Stumpwork and Dogwood Blossom Cross Stitch

This is a project from a 2008 class in Raleigh, NC.  It was either with the Embroiderer's Guild or the Needlepoint Guild, I can't remember. I wasn't crazy about the teacher and didn't work on it for a long time after the class.  I have worked on it from time to time since coming to Japan. The last time I put it away, the main part was stitched and the petals stitched but not attached.  The thing keeping me from finishing was that I did not like the butterfly I had begun. The butterfly was to go in the center area.  I even started a second butterfly and didn't like it either.

I spent some time with it over the weekend and made the flowers and stitched a tiny bee over the mark where the butterfly was to be attached. I want to finish it to the box lid above.

I spent a little time working on this cross stitch afghan. It is a little difficult because the white flowers are on a white background.  The fabric has 14 threads to the inch, so the cross stitches are over one thread with two strands of floss. The front of the chart shows seven blocks stitched, not flowers in every block. I'm still working on the first block, so I guess I have a while before I need to decide how many blocks to stitch.