Fruit Cocktail by Glendon Place (and Dinky Dyes)

I related my Mixed Berry Cheesecake story already.  At the same LNS this year, I was once again digging through the depths of Stitcher's Paradise's back room, actually looking to see if there was another Mixed Berry for a friend, and I ran across this one.  Since it was small and relatively easy, I went ahead and purchased it, too.  Honestly, I'm not a fan of oranges/yellows, so I'm not sure what I was thinking, but hey, why not.

This kit also came with the Dinky Dye fibers and a 5 color sequence, specially dyed silk like Mixed Berry.  It did not come with fabric, though, but only called for white (I think?  Anyway, I got white).  I went ahead and grabbed a scrap piece they had for sale so I could start it soon.   I also kind of decided to stitch this one first as a practice for the second one.  And it's a damn good thing I did.

I noticed mine did not look like the model, my colors were in the wrong sequence.  While I don't hate the outcome, I think the sequence is far less obvious and I prefer the model.  Oh well.  To be honest, since I'm not sure I want to frame this or keep it, even, it's not the worst.   I have a beloved cousin who really liked this, I might finish it into a wall hanging or something for her.

The other issue I had with the kit was the same one I had with the Mixed Berry, in that the silks are skimpy as heck.   In fact, I ran out of the regular peach/orange, and I had to pull from my personal supply.  I blended it with the original so that the minor lot difference wasn't as noticeable.    Because of the issues with both kits, I would not recommend purchasing it unless you really like the design or just need to have the entire Glendon Place dessert series.

I started this well ahead of Mixed Berry but did not finish it first because when I finished all of the stitching, I realized that the kit did not come with the mill hill beads required.  I went through both kits/patterns and my personal bead supply and then ordered what I needed.

I started 1/14/2017 and finished 9/25/2017.   Stitched on 28ct white lugana.

Whole thing!  whoohoo!  Ok, so maybe I like it better when I look at it from a distance (still probably not going to frame it though ;) )

I still question the red beads, but whevs :)

I took pictures of this one in the setting sun like I did Mixed Berry, and I gotta say, I do love how the firey colored beads light up in that setting

And just for funsies, here is a side by side.   You can mainly see the sequence difference in the large motifs around the center/outside of the mandala.  I like the green in the middle of the motif more than I do at the bottom, where mine is on that motif; I also like the increased variation of colors on the diagonal motifs radiating out of the center, it's too blendy in mine for my tastes.   The upside is that I made sure to get the Mixed Berry sequence correct, since I was so bent out of shape about it on this piece.