Sky Full of Birds

Sky Full of Birds is one of the designs included in the Blackbird Designs book When the Leaves Fall. I wanted something small so that I could mount it on the top of one of the playing card boxes I bought some time ago. I stitched this one on 25ct Lugana 3 over 2. The border was supposed to have eyelet stitches as part of it, but 3 strands made them look messy to I did smyrna crosses. For the five eyelet stitches within the design, I used two strands of floss. The three birds across the top are also stitched using only 2 strands. Now to paint the box and finish the inside and outside.

I painted the box a deep, dark green. The hardest part was trying to put the hardware back onto the box after painting. I had a hard time seeing the holes and the screws are really tiny.

The inside of the box has four compartments. For two of them I used some Blackbird Designs fabric I had and covered two pieces of chipboard with batting on top. I also stitched two pieces for the Blackbird Designs book, A Stitcher’s Journey which is out of print now. Tulip Pincushion is the one with the rick rack and botton. The other one is Birds and Berries Pinkeep. The pins are Lady Dot’s Sunflowers for Ukraine pins and the charm is something I had in my stash.