Medallion Rug Practice Stitching Borders

Since I’m going to be using 4 different borders on this rug, it’s time to play with some border designs. I’ve used the Snake Skeleton before on the Middle Atlas Rug, but I’ll use new colors for it this time. The picture is dark – Merlot borders, the fish are two shades of red, the background is Midnight, but I might try Navy to see it that brightens it up a little, and the skeleton stitches are Dijon. The section going vertically has a lighter skeleton, and I won’t use that. It would draw too much attention from the rest of the border.

Then I tried a border of 8-pointed stars, which I like but haven’t decided on a background color yet. I also tried a border of diamonds on point with cross stitches inside. This looks good on paper but I’m not sure it will work on the rug.

I’ve seen a border in the Moroccan embroideries and some rugs that looks like a backward S. I had to play with this one for a while to figure out how to needlepoint it. I’ve got it working if it goes in a straight line, but the center will have a border around an octagon. I’m still trying to figure out if I can work on a slant. If not, it will have to be one of the borders that go around the entire rug. I used Mosaic stitch for the outer border of this one, but it will have to be changed. As you can see, there is an extra stitch along one side of the S repeat. So I’ll probably switch to Cashmere stitch which is done over 3 threads and will work out better.

I like three of these enough to pencil them in for the rug. I’m still playing with other possibilities in order to decide a fourth border. Since I’ll have to start with the borders, you won’t have to wait more than a week or so to see which one I’ll be starting with.

The next post will show some motifs I’ve been working on to use at the top and bottom of the rug.

Craft Show in Northern California

I’m doing my last craft show this week. Today I spent time packing everything up, so I’m ready to go early Friday morning. I took a few photos of some of my coasters as I packed them up – all 33 are ready to go now. I put some of my samples for the Moroccan Coaster Guide into coasters.

I stitched a white border around one of the samples for the free zellig tile and put it in a coaster too. And added one on the colored canvas, without stitching a border.

Then to add one more new thing to the mix, I stitched coasters using just the center of the High Atlas Pillow that I did a few months ago.

I would love to meet some of you, so if you are in the area of Rohnert Park, CA on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving, please come and visit. It’s being held at the Community Center on Snyder Lane. Hours on both days are 10:00 a.m. till 4:00 p.m.

I don’t know if I’ll have time to post anything until the fair is over. So don’t worry if I don’t post again until Sunday – with more information about the Medallion Rug.

Medallion Rug Planning

I’ve been a little under the weather this past week with a cold, but I’m still thinking ahead. It’s about time to start the next rug, so I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and planning. I showed you a photo of an antique rug last month that is my inspiration for the new rug. But all the photos have been put away and I’m designing the rug on my own. The first thing I did was think about the layout of the rug. The antique rug has lots of triangles, but I’m doing something different. This might be a little light, but you should be able to get a rough idea of what I’ll be doing.

I’ll be stitching three borders around the rug. The X and Diamonds at each end just mark the place where I will be putting large motifs. The center is an elongated octagon with a border around it. So I have lots of work to do. I have four borders to play with and 3 large motifs to plan.

Then I needed to decide the colors to use for the project. I knew I wanted dark blue and lots of red. This type of rug is more like the traditional Turkish, Persian, and Oriental rugs. In Morocco, they are called Rabati rugs – rugs from the capital of Rabat.

I decided my main colors quite easily, but needed some other colors to provide contrast in the borders and the motifs. I have three picked out, but have three more in the wings if I need them. Here’s the palette:

These are all Silk & Ivory by Brown Paper Packages which will be used on 13 count canvas. Starting on the left -

Classic Navy – the color for the center background

Midnight – used in borders and maybe motifs

Merlot – the edges of the borders

Cabernet – borders and motifs

Burgundy – the main red color which will be used as often as possible

Bordeaux – borders and motifs

Claret – borders and motifs

Dijon – borders and motifs

Paprika – borders and motifs

Curry – borders and motifs (finally gives me the gold color I really wanted but couldn’t find the right shade – thanks Anne!)

Now to practice stitch and get more details decided. I hope to be able to start work on this rug December 1st.

My Zellig 2 Finale

I worked on the zellig yesterday and completed it! I started by working on the space between the outer framework and the 8-point star. I started with the dark green triangles stitched in Kreinik 1/16 ribbon in Vintage Emerald so it wouldn’t have much of a shine. The arrows were stitched in floss using the traditional Mosaic stitch. Half the tops were stitched with the same color as the squares that are done on point. The other half in a shade darker. The rest of the arrows were stitched alternating the two antique mauve shades from the outer corners. I had tried the lighter shades for the arrows and they just didn’t show up against the green canvas. These are still fairly light, but I’m hoping they’ll look okay. I didn’t want to use any new colors at this point.

toThen it was on to the center. I started by stitching the interior 8-point star created by the squares. I used the traditional Mosaic stitch for this. Then I used Basketweave to separate the small 8-point star from the center. This was done in Kreinik #8 braid. The center – I’ve had several comments saying that it looked like a garden, so I decided to play on that! I used 4 strands of floss and laid it carefully in a circular Rhodes stitch. Then I went around the circle a second time, using a dark wine #4 Kreinik braid. And here is the final photo – all done!

My version is drastically different from the one Anne stitched on The Cape Stitcher, but we started with the same design and used mostly floss. This is why I keep telling you to play and have fun when you needlepoint. If you hadn’t been told, would you think that  Anne and I used the same design? Each version is wonderful and reflects the personality of the stitcher.

Next time you pick up a project to work on, think about making a few changes – change one or two colors to fit your own decor or change a stitch to one of your favorites. Have fun!!

My Zellig 2 – Progress 5

I showed you a little of the Framed Mosaic last time. The first thing I did was finish that section up. Here’s a photo of half of the piece with all the medium green in place.

Then I needed to put some Antique Mauve into the corners. I tried the darkest shade I had and it didn’t look right. It looked too red in comparison to the mauve in the overdye. I ripped it out and did some rethinking. I came up with Mosaic Checker in the two darkest shades that I had left after removing what I had stitched. Mosaic Checker is done with Mosaic done in every other two threads. Then you go back with a different color and do four Basketweave stitches. Here’s the first corner all stitched up.

I like the way this looks and stitched the other three corners. There are open spaces in the corners that let the canvas show through. This light green and brown canvas add the lightest shade of green without having to do any stiching. Now I have the area between the large 8-point star and the corners to stitch. The center will be stitched last.

My Zellig 2 – Progress 4

The on point squares have been adapted now so I was able to complete the dark green diamonds. Here they are all completed.

So now I can finally get started on all the other parts of the tile and lots of color! I said that I wanted to use all Mosaic stitches and so far I’ve used the traditional Mosaic stitch for all the framework. Then I used Diagonal Mosaic for the diamonds. Time to start work on another Mosaic stitch. This one is called Framed Mosaic. I started by stitching the traditional Mosaic stitch in an overdye floss – leaving one thread between them horizontally and vertically. Then I went back and filled in those empty spaces with a medium green Continental stitch. Here’s one section that I have completed so far.

When these four sections are completed, I’ll start on the sections next to the diagonals. I’ll use the same stitches and threads. When all the overdye and medium green are completed, I’ll start on the four corner sections. There will be some sections that will not be stitched, allowing the vintage canvas to show through.

Don’t forget to check out Anne’s version at The Cape Stitcher – she’s farther along and the colors are very different from mine. It’s fun seeing what different people decide to do with the same design. It gives all of you an idea of what you can do with a project you are working on. Try changing colors or change a stitch or two and see how it changes everything. It’s a lot of fun and lets your personality shine through.

My Zellig 2 – Progress 3

I’m back at work on the zellig again. I’ve completed all the framework in both the light and darker ecru color. I’ve only used the traditional Mosaic stitch so far and things seem to be working out well.

Tonight I will redo the top and bottom on the on point squares so I can finish all the dark green diamonds with nice, straight lines.

Then I get to play with other Mosaic stitches to fill in the rest of the design. I’ll start with the four corners and work my way toward the middle.

My Zellig 2 – Progress 2

Two steps forward and one step back. I’ve decided to keep the second shade of ecru that I’m using for the on point squares. But the Gobelin stitch over two threads wasn’t working at all. I can’t keep all the stitching going in the same direction throughout the piece, so I ripped out what I had done in that color. I’ve gone back to Mosaic stitch to do them.

The first quarter of the design has the framework completed, and I’ve started on the second one. All the squares on point are completed. But I’ve run out of Anchor #926 – the lighter color. I ordered some a few days ago and it should be here any day now.

While I wait for more thread, I decided to start working on the center. I’ve stitched two of the arms in very dark green (Anchor #218) using Diagonal Mosaic. The one that is on a slant looks great, but the one that in straight up and down is squared off. I’ll need to decide if I should remove  two stitches that are over one thread in the darker ecru and redo them in dark green. I hate ripping out stitches, but if it will look better, I’ll do it. This is why I don’t write instructions until I’ve stitched it – to find these little deviations that make the design look better.

Anne at The Cape Stitcher has just posted her second progress report as well. No, we’re not having a contest to see who can finish first. I normally post every three days and I try to keep to that schedule. And I’m quite sure that Anne will finish first.

I also spend time each day stitching (or planning) three projects at the same time. Last night I was working on a general plan for the next rug, then went back to stitching on this project. I also managed to finish the last of three large stockings for my three granddaughters. Now I need to get good backing material for them so I can get them finished and sent the first week of December.

My Zellig 2 – Progress 1

I’ve had a busy couple of days and didn’t get much stitching done. I did get to my LNS yesterday to look over Silk & Ivory colors and try to narrow down the colors I will use on the new rug when I start it later this month. I want to try out different combinations for the borders, so I did a little playing last night. I’ve already eliminated one color, so I’ll keep playing and see what happens.

On the Zellig 2 tile, I showed you the middle four squares done in tan. I planned to use a darker tan for the squares that are on point. I decided I didn’t like the color and ripped it all out. Because the canvas is sage green and has a mottled look done in brown, I decided I needed a much lighter color for the middle squares and the other outlines that work out from the squares. I switched to Anchor #926 – ecru. I like this much better. After the squares were stitched, I started working the lines that extend from the squares and travel across the canvas to the outside border.

While I was counting and stitching, I ran into a small problem. I want to use Mosaic Stitch for a lot of this piece. The distance I had designed from the middle squares to the octagon that surrounds them is fine – an even number of threads. But the distance between the octagon and the outside border was 9 threads. This was easily corrected by adding one more thread between the two sections. I find this to be one of the problems with designing on the computer with cross stitch software. I can’t write the instructions for stitching the design until I have stitched it, as problems like this keep popping up. I have to work slowly until I have one part completed and know that it works before I can continue to stitch around the whole design. I can’t find a Mac software program that does stitch diagrams like StitchWiz on Windows.

Now I have finished one quarter of the outlines done in ecru and started on the next one. Here’s how it looks today.

I tried a new color for the squares that are on point and I’m not sure it’s dark enough. I’m not sure they stand out enough. And the square isn’t square – the left side is bigger than the right side. The right side is correct so I need to rip out the left side. I’ll do that after I make a decision on what color to use for the on point squares and the lines that travel out from the center.

Anne Stradal (http://thecapestitcher.blogspot.com) has just posted her version of this tile. She has painted the outlines and selected colors she will be using, so be sure to check in with Anne as well. You’ll be able to see two versions of this zellig tile being blog-stitched at the same time.!  I’m look forward to seeing how she stitches this.

My Zellig 2 – Getting Started

This is project #2 for the month of November. I’m getting started a day early! I took the little free design I shared with all of you on my blog anniversary and added to it. Below on the left is the original tile and on the right is the new design I’ve created.

You can see elements of the original in my design and this is as complicated as I will go with this design. I really like this new version. The colors in the chart are close to what I’ll actually be using for this tile. One of my favorite color combinations.

This design is about 6 inches square so I can make the elements a little bigger and use more stitches. I want to use a lot of Mosaic stitches to see if that makes it look more like a real zellig design made up little mosaic tiles. So I started with the four center squares, stitched in Mosaic stitch. The canvas is an antique green and brown. The white sections in the design above will allow the canvas to show through. I’ll have to be careful with the colors I choose for several areas because of this.

I’ll continue with the 4 squares that are stitched on point. Then I’ll extend some of the sides of the squares to create the framework for the full tile.

Another blogger, Anne Stradal of thecapestitcher.blogspot.com will be stitching of a variation of this tile in the days to come, so check in on her as well. She’s making it into a Christmas tree ornament for herself. I haven’t seen it yet, so I’ll be watching her work too. This should be fun – two different interpretations on the same design. I’m looking forward to it!