While stitching the pretty little strawberries on the needle case, I experienced a sort of visual illusion. In my head I know that one color can effect how another color looks. The most common experience I've had with the effect of one color changing how another color looks in my face. If I'm dressed in black or red or deep blue my skin looks healthy and my eyes alive. If I put on a bright yellow top, my skin suddenly look slightly green, washed out and ill. Each strawberry is stitched in three shades of red: a medium light pink, a medium pink and a darkish red. First I bordered the shape with split stitch and worked padding stitches all across the shape. The lightest pink is used for this stitching.Dividing the strawberry shape into three sections in my mind's eye, I worked satin stitch in the lightest pink, perpendicular to the padding stitches. The next shade to be stitched was the medium shade of pink.Lastly came the deep red in the final third of the strawberry. At this point I wasn't sure I'd followed the instructions correctly. The strawberry looked pretty vibrant and not very tasty. Hmmmm.I persevered and added the Caron variegated green thread trellis and holding stitches. Suddenly the shades of red softened and blended together. The green made such a huge difference in how I perceived the shades of pink and red - just like my skin in red as compared to blue.

The strawberry looks delicious now, doesn't it?