Remember this painting of two cardinals I posted about a while (forever) ago? I’m finally ready to get started on the actual needlepainting! Life does intervene, doesn’t it?

Anyway. Picking colors is one of my favorite parts of needlepainting. I love petting threads and deciding which colors should be optically mixed and what get their own thread color. This image is challenging because the female cardinal has such a wonderful color mix. There are actually a LOT of greens in her feathers! And the male has more reds in his feathers than you might think.

How I start Picking Colors

With my collection of DMC floss spread out in front of me and the fabric I’ll be stitching on, I settle into a sunbeam to sort threads. I always have the fabric on hand. Its color will change how thread colors appear! I’ve chosen a silver-grey shirt fabric to stitch this design on. It will contrast well with the birds, and let them stand out as though it’s an overcast day.

The Final Choices for the Needlepainting

These are the threads I finally decided on for a palette. I’ll add black, and I may end up leaving some out or going back to get more. The latter happens less often than the former, but it does happen. I prefer to start with more threads on hand than I really need. Your mileage may vary, of course. I may need to go back and get more reds for the male. I’m not entirely happy with my set of three shades. I’d like to see one or two more.

Now I need to get the design on the fabric and I can actually start stitching!

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