Independence Day

NAME:    Toni Gerdes

DESIGNER:    The designer was Laura Perin of Laura J. Perin Designs

This was a fun, patriotic piece to stitch.  It makes a great piece to display from Memorial Day to Labor Day.  There are not a lot of different stitches in this piece; many straight and diagonal long stitches with a few Smyrna's, Fan stitches, and Star stitches.  The great thing about Independence Day is the colors; you really feel like you're looking at a 4th of July night sky with all the fireworks popping.  The interesting technique in this piece is the use of heavier threads for the border area (Watercolors and 2 strands of Treasure Braid Petite) and lighter threads for the inside square (Wildflowers and 1 strand of Treasure Braid Petite).  The only change I made from the original design was not to accent the piece with some jewels that were included with the chart.  I used Rhodes stitches instead.  The Hi-lights thread was hard to work with, but worth the effort for the wonderful "bursting light" effect it produced.  Laura Perin stated in her directions that this is an Impressionistic piece; the fireworks are the important element and the background patterns are meant to be scattered to suggest movement.

Excerpt of Conversation between Tony Minieri and Judy Souliotis about this piece
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Last updated Monday, October 9th, 2006