Budapest Ornament Using Color Complements
Lorraine of Colour Complements gave everyone at ANG Seminar in 2018 a sample of her lovely hand dyed threads. I got a dyed green/gold DMC #5 Perle Cotton (my favorite fall colors). In the package was also DMC #5 Perle 500 solid green and Anchor Floss 392 solid beige grey. I’d already been getting her newsletter and love seeing her combinations of colors in all the threads she dyes. So, I was very happy to see it in person.

I came across her package of threads recently and just after seeing a stitch pattern in Painted Canvas Embellishment: An Idea Book by Carole Lake and Michael Boren called Budapest Stitch. The sample of the hand dyed thread was only 5.47 yards. So, I stitched the over 3 straight stitches until I ran low on thread and made a symmetrical shape (4 units × 4 units of the Budapest Stitch to form an inner square). Each unit looks like a mini 4-way star bargello pattern. The 5.47 yards got used up faster than what I expected. I wanted something bigger. So, I made an outer square with the solid green perle cotton which turned out to be a nice contrast.
At that point, I was still considering a round (4″) ornament or a square (3 & 1/2″) coaster. But, adding compensation stitches of the Budapest Stitch seemed perfect for a circle.
That left small areas for the Hungarian Stitch with just enough of the hand dyed thread to fill in 4 Hungarian Stitches on each corner creating some movement of color towards the edge. For the rest, I used 4 strands of the beige grey floss.
For the squares, I went to Sandra Arthur’s Shapes of Needlepoint, Series I for 4 x 4 square stitches. That size would allow some canvas to show thereby framing the fill-in stitches. I selected stitches that would allow me to use the solid green perle cotton and 2 strands of the beige grey floss. These three patterns seemed to be enough variety for a small ornament: Leviathan Stitch, V Stitch, and Padded Scotch Stitch.
Thanks Lorraine for the threads! This ornament was a lot of fun from a design point of view too. And, it’ll be fun to watch out for other stitch patterns that would work up with just a few threads.

Filed under: ANG Seminar 2018, Budapest Ornament, General comments, Threads
Lorraine of Colour Complements gave everyone at ANG Seminar in 2018 a sample of her lovely hand dyed threads. I got a dyed green/gold DMC #5 Perle Cotton (my favorite fall colors). In the package was also DMC #5 Perle 500 solid green and Anchor Floss 392 solid beige grey. I’d already been getting her newsletter and love seeing her combinations of colors in all the threads she dyes. So, I was very happy to see it in person.
I came across her package of threads recently and just after seeing a stitch pattern in Painted Canvas Embellishment: An Idea Book by Carole Lake and Michael Boren called Budapest Stitch. The sample of the hand dyed thread was only 5.47 yards. So, I stitched the over 3 straight stitches until I ran low on thread and made a symmetrical shape (4 units × 4 units of the Budapest Stitch to form an inner square). Each unit looks like a mini 4-way star bargello pattern. The 5.47 yards got used up faster than what I expected. I wanted something bigger. So, I made an outer square with the solid green perle cotton which turned out to be a nice contrast.
At that point, I was still considering a round (4″) ornament or a square (3 & 1/2″) coaster. But, adding compensation stitches of the Budapest Stitch seemed perfect for a circle.
That left small areas for the Hungarian Stitch with just enough of the hand dyed thread to fill in 4 Hungarian Stitches on each corner creating some movement of color towards the edge. For the rest, I used 4 strands of the beige grey floss.
For the squares, I went to Sandra Arthur’s Shapes of Needlepoint, Series I for 4 x 4 square stitches. That size would allow some canvas to show thereby framing the fill-in stitches. I selected stitches that would allow me to use the solid green perle cotton and 2 strands of the beige grey floss. These three patterns seemed to be enough variety for a small ornament: Leviathan Stitch, V Stitch, and Padded Scotch Stitch.
Thanks Lorraine for the threads! This ornament was a lot of fun from a design point of view too. And, it’ll be fun to watch out for other stitch patterns that would work up with just a few threads.