Now, THERE is progress!

What a difference a great tutorial makes!

And better materials!

And taking one's time!

OK, so here is the full story . . .

First of all, I'd like to say a big THANK YOU!! to all of you who left me such kind comments! Many of you gently pointed out that I need to not be such a perfectionista, and I totally admit that is one of my downfalls! I've taken your advice and slowed down and am truly enjoying the process now.
I've been working in the evenings on a lovely Elefantz Design stitchery . . . this is Block One of her new Psalm 23 stitching series.

Wow! I'm pretty proud of the progress I've made!

I put a link up there at the top to the great tutorial that helped me a good bit. My stitches are much more even, and I'm getting them made correctly - no more faux chain stitch! (Grin)

I also followed Jenny's advice and got some Robert Kaufman Essex linen blend to work on. It's made a big difference for me! 
And the Whisperweft! Awesome! I love how it's so thin and drapey -- I hardly know it's there behind the stitchery, but it helps everything look much better. Plus, it's easy to adhere -- just iron it on.

Here's the problem - where to find it? I did manage to get a yard of it from a supplier link on the Elefantz site. I went to a (ahem!) local store that shall remain nameless and they had no clue. They offered me a product for backing my embroidery that felt like I would be stitching through a sheet of printer paper! (Grin)

I know that some of you swear by the stabilizer that washes out, but my one experience with that was not a really positive one . . . I was picking out pieces for quite a while. 

Any recommendations? Sure would appreciate it!

Thanks for stopping by! You're always welcome here at the Lilypad!

Love,