Stitching with three strands of floss sometimes helps. I prefer Anchor brand when stitching with black or white. Did the black Aida fabric show on the light yellow areas?
Nice patterns, the birds look so cheerful.

You might want to look at a company called Chromatic Alchemy. They sell beautiful 'tie died' cross stitch fabric in all sorts of shades. An alternative to stitching the whole background!

Thanks, I will do that. But I really love long very detailed cross stitch patterns and getting it finished is not the goal for me. I just enjoy the process and winters are long here. But I am always looking for new sources for supplies so I will most definitely check out Chromatic Alchemy.

Hello Texas Stitcher! Love the name....I thought about using 3 strands but I really like the looks of 2 best. And somehow the lighter colors do not show the black aida like the white aida shows through the floss. And I am very fond of black. NancyAlice

I understand Nancy. I prefer two myself. I dislike odd numbers since one can't railroad. The floss does not lay flat when I stitch with more than two. If I were younger with perfect eyesight I would stitch on tiny count with one. That would mean that the project would be tiny too! LOL

I really like those birds, they look so cheerful and inquisitive. I have a bird feeder outside my dining area window, initially placed there for my granddaughter, and enjoy watching them. Some are so bossy and chase the others way. Some really enjoy their little seeds and peck away leisurely. A relaxing activity while having my coffee.

I just noticed their flashy footwear.

This thing is huge, how long did it take you?

I too like this chart. What if you stitched the birds in another type of thicker floss? The sky's the limit as far as ideas are concerned. I liked your idea of tea dying the fabric but stitching so much on black ...no way José. There are just some things I won't do and that's one of them. (Nor do I stuff mushrooms)

I just started the first bird....so I have a long way to go to the finish line. Actually I just started it for the second time as I baled on the tea dyed idea. It's going very well and I am enjoying it, which, for me, is the point. I used to love to feed the birds as well, but when the seed began to draw rats I had to give that up. That was years ago when we lived a country life. We're in the city now to be closer to services and such (getting old!) so rats would probably not be an issue here. My bi-monthly Sit and Stitch friends always remark on my working on black. But I have no problem seeing it, with cheaters of course, so I plan to do it as long as I can. And I have no problem changing the colors up if I want to but I really like the black birds. And those shoes! Really love those shoes.

xstitcher....you don't stuff mushrooms?! But they are so nummy. What I don't do is any pattern with Sun Bonnet Sue, she's just too cutesy for my tastes. But I am so there for a pattern that is detailed and complicated. Maybe I'm just cheap? Picking patterns that take time gives me more bang for my buck? Probably not....cross stitch is nothing if not very affordable compared to a host of other crafts. Like quilting. Which I do as well but it is much more pricey. NancyAlice

Ha ha Nancy Alice, I didn't say that I don't eat them, I just leave the stuffing to somebody else.

Im not a fan of the oh so twee charts either so it's good there are plenty of choices out there to suit our different tastes. As they say, one man's honey is another man's poison.