I thought I had posted the final piece here but it was on Needle Lace Talk, the Ning group that is hosting this resource. Since Ning has taken away free hosting and requires payment, I was waiting to see where the group would end up before putting it in my links.

I finished this Thursday evening and then soaked it in OxyClean and blocked it. I guess it's not bad for a first piece but I see so many places to improve. My favorite parts visually are the first square in corded brussels and the bars with opposite buttonhole stitch. I forget what it is called now. Those were pretty much tatting stitches made with a needle - not like needle tatting, but using a needle as a shuttle and the bars were the core thread. You make the stitches on one side, far enough apart that when you go to the opposite side and make the same stitches, you are fitting them between the stitches from the first side.

I realized when I was done that this was the equivalent of more than a few leaves that I had originally couched down. I'm getting ready to do the leaf next. I'll be doing some color play on that one. I want "shading" so the bottom of the leaf will be in darker colors and denser fillings while the tip and top of the leaf will be in lighter colors and looser fillings. Anyway...that's my plan.

I'm going to make up another sampler pattern of perhaps 9 squares, 3 across and down, with spaces between. I think this one will be more for practicing new stitches and I will make the square smaller. The bookmark squares were all at least 1 1/2" wide or wider and most were more than 1" tall and some were taller than they were wide. I also want to try one with curved shapes, like the leaf bookmark that Lenore offered from her past doodles. Those are all practices though.

For regular projects, I'm doing the leaf as I said, and then I want to do some simple petals that I saw in another project which end up being a flower. I haven't liked any of the other flowers I've seen so far.

After the leaf though, I will probably work on some RPL for another commitment and maybe some crocheted lace. Oh...and I have a bobbinlace class in June, so you'll see that one here too!