Stitch
of the Month
December 2003: I Never Promised You A Rose Garden - Directions
by
David McCaskill
Needlepoint
Designer/Teacher
http://www.dbydstudio.com
Click on the name of any stitch to see the detailed directions for executing that stitch.
Mount your canvas on stretcher bars. Make sure it is taut. Your canvas may loosen up while you're working on "Rose Garden." If this happens, remount your canvas, stretching it tight.
Find the center of your canvas (Example 1, large dot). Lay in the leaves of the floral trellis using one length of Thread A. Use Example 1 for placement. If you are using Trebizond, as I did, or another stranded thread, strip it as you would floss. (Flick the end of the silk until you can grab and strip each of the three strands, one at a time. Then put them back together and lay them as you stitch, using a laying tool. If you are not familiar with the use of a laying tool, click here.)
Example
1
Using Thread B, and following the count in the June 2003 chart, fill in the trellis with the roses. Click here to see the required charts for the roses. When you drag your thread from flower to flower, drag behind the leaves so that the thread doesnt shadow behind the open canvas.
EDGING AROUND THE MEDALLION APRIL 2003
You will follow Steps 4 and 5 for Diagonal Mosaic Variation (April 2003 Stitch of the Month) to lay in an edging around the center medallion. Click here to see the charts for Steps 4 and 5.
Use the examples below to determine which thread to use for each portion of the stitch. One strand of Thread C for the portion of the stitch that's shown in red, and one strand of Thread D for the portion that's shown in blue. Use Example 2, below, for placement. Notice how Thread C and Thread D overlap on the corners!
Example
2
SPIRAL SATIN STITCH SEPTEMBER 2003
Using one stand of Thread E, lay in a spiral satin stitch along each side of the center diamond as shown below in Example 3. This chart also shows one side of the edging around the central medallion, which will help you place your spiral satin stitches correctly.
Example
3
Add a floral border on each side of the scalloped edge as shown in Examples 4 and 5 below. The colors in these two charts are explained in Steps 1 through 4, below the two charts. Each color in the charts denotes a different thread.
Example
4
Example
5
1. Use Thread A for the leaves (shown in green) between each flower. Strip the thread as you did for the medallion center if you're using Trebizond or another stranded thread.
2. Using Thread B, lay in the flower petals (shown in red). Drag behind the leaves to the next flower.
3. With Thread F, lay in the vertical and horizontal petals (blue).
4. Complete the flower (purple) with Thread D.
OUTSIDE BORDER FEBRUARY 2003
The outside border is stitched using the Trellis Cross Variation stitch from February 2003, steps 1-4. Each block of four large cross stitches is separated by a single canvas thread. The blocks are arranged in a border pattern as shown in Example 6.
Example
6
Example 6 shows only the upper left quarter of the design. Using the color photo as a reference, complete the other three corners.
Referring to Steps 1-4 of the February 2003 Stitch of the Month, work Step 1 using one strand of Thread C. (Its okay to drag from square to square, being careful that the drag remains within the border design area.)
Step 2 is worked with Thread F.
Step 3 is worked with Thread B.
Step 4 is worked with Thread D.
Using example 6 (above) for placement, work the lace pattern in each of the corners using Thread E.
Background
If a background is desired, I suggest using pearl cotton to stitch one of the following options:
Trellis Variation August 2003 Step 1 only
Water Stitch March 2003 Step 1 Only
Alisha Lace February 2002
Woven April 2000
T-Stitch February 2000
This page may be printed and reproduced in its entirety by ANG Chapters for publication in their newsletters.