Pine needles and thorns for palm fronds for Cardinal vignettes

Thought you'd like to see a close-up of how I thread painted the pine needles and the thorns on the limbs of the palm fronds. Both are done with a zigzag stitch set at the widest stitch it is possible to use on your machine. Lower the feed dogs and as the zigzag stitch is being made gently move the project under the presser foot to create the look of the needles and the thorns. Keep fingers out of the way! Wow, it hurts when you stitch through your finger....(known from experience!

Finished vignettes of Cardinal

Here is my finished vignette of the Cardinal in the Pine Tree for NC or Florida.....they do have pine trees in north Florida:)
and my Cardinal in the Palm Frond for the Florida folks:)
Close ups will follow, next week showing the thread painting a little better!