Top Knot or NOT?

Since starting to stitch on the partridge, Paulette and I have had several discussions regarding his top-knot.  I've seen lots of Christmas cards drawn by various artists that show partridges with top-knots, but after researching the actual bird I found that the only one with this little appendage is the California Partridge, which is really a quail.

So the big question is....should we keep the top-knot,( which would be an Amadeus stitch), eliminate it, or stitch one of each and call it an option on the stitch guide????? Opinions welcome.

New Project-Christmas in July

Finished section #1 on #1062, Quilted Wreath yesterday.  This part of the wreath is pretty large (19x19") so it was a big reach to start on the first section.  The best way to handle this problem was to start the canvas upside down and stitch it in halves.

The first stitch is Cassique Stitch (one of Tony Minieri's creations) and I stitched it in a combination of Rainbow Tweed, Neon Rays, and Balger.  The Rainbow Tweed was the closest overdye I could find in Christmas colors, so even though it isn't very traditional it still has a Christmassy feeling.

Paulette will be stitching the companion piece, #1061 Partridge and Pears Quilt, so as soon as she returns from vacation I'll put this section aside and we will stitch our partridges together.

Lupe's Fashion Statement

One more week of working on Lupe before retiring her for a while to start on a new model.  My goal is to finish the background, the rest of her collar trim, and her serape, leaving just the flowers to tackle at a later date.

The Plaited Upright Cross Stitch that Tony suggested for the serape really works well since it can fill any width of a diagonal stripe as long as it in over an uneven number of threads.  It was a little confusing to compensate on the stripes that start along the bottom, but once I figured it out (ONLY took 2 hours!) it was smooth sailing.