Patchwork of Peace Begins

November 21, 2018, 11:36 am
Filed under: ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, Patchwork of Peace

I picked up the original book by Mary Clark Donegan and the supplements by Connie Camp a while ago. Now, Buff, one of my ANG Main Line Stitchers chapter members decided to do it too. So, I got energized to start mine!

The original book is great mostly because it is like Stitches for Effect by Suzanne Howren and Beth Robertson giving suggestions about how else to use a stitch. But, Connie’s is better for stitching the flag because diagrams are fully compensated and have been adjusted occasionally to fit next to each other better.

Each block is 16 x 16 threads. And, the design is 304 x 208 threads which is either 17″ x 11.5″ on 18 count or 12&3/4″ x 8&3/4″ on 24 count Congress Cloth.

However, working on larger projects isn’t as fun for me (add 2 inches on all 4 sides and it’s big). So, I decided to work on Congress Cloth which I’ve used a couple of times and isn’t as difficult to stitch on as I expected.

I found plenty of white threads in my stash (which I split into bright white and white) but almost no ecru! So, I headed to Nimble Needle in NJ and got ecru Congress Cloth and had fun with Karen picking up a variety of threads including some interesting ones that I use infrequently or never before (Pashmina, Subtlety, and Soie Perlee).

I think the ecru Congress Cloth will show the white threads better and will not be as visible under the red and blue threads as white Congress Cloth.

Instead of having the blue area of the flag be 7 blocks square, I’m going to make it 8 x 7 to more closely resemble the actual flag. I’d seen David L in the private Facebook group for this design expand the blue and really liked it better. I’m not painting the Congress Cloth with stripes of red or blue. I basted the center column to get me started correctly. Didn’t want to use pencil to grid it because of the white threads. And, didn’t want to waste time basting more of the squares.

One block of the 90 white ones is done (in the upper center area). There are a total of 247 blocks and a border. I won’t get too far ahead of you Buff (I do have other projects started) but you got me motivated!

Our Main Line Stitchers chapter meets this Saturday November 24th from 10 am to 2 pm for a casual Stitch-in Time at Starbucks (218 Lancaster Avenue) in Wayne, PA. Stop by if you’re in the area!