Spring Sampler in the Making

April 21, 2020, 12:00 pm
Filed under: ANG Cyberworshop, Making Stitches Work For You with Carolyn Mitchell

Making Stitches Work For You with Carolyn Mitchell is an ANG Cyberworshop that began January 2020. It’s 4 lessons over 4 months. So, this is the last month. However, Carolyn extended our class through May 15. Now that I finished Fiona’s piece, I can focus on this piece.

During these past few months, I tried mapping out stitches from a couple of books on my computer but it wasn’t working. It seemed that the symmetry on either end was always off. Making 25 different bands seemed daunting.

Finally, I remembered the main lesson I learned from Kathy Rees’ design class which was to select stitches that would be divisible for your area. In this case, I wanted 12″ square. Since 216 can be divided evenly by 18 and 24, then I could look at stitches with heights/widths of 2, 3, 6, 9 and 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, respectively. Once I combined the lessons learned from both teachers, I began to create this symmetrical band sampler. Except for the center band of 30 threads (not mathematically divisible with 216), the rest of the band heights/widths will include: 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24.

I started on the center band with a decorative Jean Hilton plaited ray stitch (from Jean Hilton’s Stimulating Stitches, Plaited Rays, pg 28). However, 7 units of my center Band 13 motif was slightly smaller than the 216 thread width but compensation with three threads on each side worked out fine. This is also part of one focal point Kathy Rees provided in her class diagrams.

I have no idea how much thread I will need. And, am going to work out of my stash. So, I pulled purples and blueish purple and am going to contrast with off white/beige which I have plenty of and goes with almost every. Now, I may have too many threads!

As I said, I started with the center focal point and wanted to introduce the key thread, an overdyed purple thread (Waterlilies 006 Amethyst), purple (Splendor S809), beige (Soie Perlee SPS #694), and sparkle (Bijoux MMT 412 Amethyst and 411 Cape Amethyst). I was really surprised that just the one band took so much of the Waterlilies, Splendor, and Soie Perlee.

For the bands adjacent to the center Band 13, Bands 12 and 14, I selected a sparkling beige Silk Lame Braid Petite SP100 for two cross stitches, an overlapping cross stitch and Greek stitch.

In Painted Canvas Embellishment: An Idea Book by Carole Lake and Michael Boren (pg 89), I saw that they diagrammed a variation of the overlapping cross stitch by laying a single laid thread first. So, I did that for the next lower band, Band 15, which is over 2 threads. The laid thread is a light, shiny purple Panache PN11 and the cross stitch is a single strand of Splendor S918. For the upper band, Band 11, I laid a single strand of Panache and used the Greek stitch with a single strand of Splendor.

I’m very happy with my beginning bands.