Tea towel embroidery

I always have several projects going at once but when I found this iron-on in an old Workbasket magazine I picked up last month at the thrift store, I knew I had to add one more to the list.

Last night, while DS was busy entertaining a buddy visiting for the weekend and DH was reading the third book in Dewey Lambdin's Allen Lewrie naval series, I whipped out a faux-floursack towel and started to work. 

The iron-on didn't suggest any color scheme but I could already see this big guy as our old roo, Brownie.  Tho, as DS later pointed out, Brownie had more of a rose comb...

I goofed and lifted the transfer paper as well as the iron halfway through the transfer process so the lower half of the design was almost non-existent.  However, I just laid the transfer beside the  towel as I worked and I referred to it whenever I needed help placing the stitches.

The wings gave me the most trouble -- something about having to view those little C-shaped lines and reverse them when stitching due to the mirror-imaging. Messed with my head enough I just "winged" the wings...  and told myself it was only a tea towel, after all. 

Don't know about you, but I always like to look at the back of the work so here's a pic after I finished embroidering.  And, at the bottom of this post, the finished towel.  Ironed and folded, ready for dish duty.  What a great feeling to start and quickly finish a project (good reason to choose small projects!) AND end up with a soul-satisfying hand-tool, too.  Doesn't take much to make me happy...