I know I said Sunday, but this is ready to go and I want to see what everyone thinks about the final design.
So here is the Henna Design all finished!
I wanted to create a feeling of the lace work that Catherine of The Henna Page did on the original picture I posted here. I really wanted to use a metallic ribbon for this part. I tried a Kreinik 1/16 ribbon that had copper and black – it was too dark and detracted from the overall design, so I ripped it out. Then I tried a Kreinik ribbon that was just Copper – too red, so I ripped it out. Copper Neon Rays – way too red. (I’m beginning to feel like Goldilocks!) So I went back to the drawer of Kreinik and found a #16 braid that is lighter than the floss used in this project, but doesn’t detract from the design. When I tried one corner, it looked okay, and that’s what I used for all the lace. The edge of the lace that forms the center square was stitched with a copper color of Frosty Rays.
Stitching was all done, so it was time to set it where I could see if often and think about any tweaking I could do to enhance the design. Time for the bead drawer. I’m not a fan of beading – no particular reason. But a few beads would be the right touch here. Above and below the zigzag lines I put small light amber beads. Then on the lace, I put a matte finish olive bead at each intersection of the metallic braid. Henna artist do sometimes add another color to their design, like turquoise or green. Here’s a close-up of the corner with the beads.
I’m pleased with the finished design and I thank all of you for coming along on the journey. And I want to again thank Catherine at The Henna Page for allowing me to post her designs and letting me adapt them to needlepoint.
Oh, don’t worry. I’ve already decided what to study next. Tuesday, I’ll give photos of my inspiration. And the journey will start again.
In the side borders, I’ve included a new motif. It’s called the Eye. Some perceive this as the Evil Eye, but it’s actually the opposite. The eye watches for the evil eye and protects you from it. In the center of the small motif is a +. This symbolizes that evil is deflected in all four directions. It can be represented by an oculus (actual eye shape), a triangle or group of triangles, concentric diamonds, or the symbol I have used in the border. It was stitched using 4 strands of floss for the light color and six strands of floss for the eye.
The second motif in the border is one I played with on the doodle canvas. I had put little Xs under the zigzag lines, but didn’t want to do that in the final design. That finishing touch will come later. This was stitched with 4 strands of floss in the lighter color. In between the zigzag lines is a dotted line done with Copper Snow.
Now I have a completed center star and four completed borders. I’m almost done, but the center of the square still needs some work.
Stay tuned. Sunday is the grand finale!
I need to start this post with the center 8 pointed star. It wasn’t completely finished in the last post. I’ve now stitched all the way around with the Copper Snow and really like the way it looks. You will notice as I continue stitching this design that I am alternating light and dark colors as I work the various motifs.
With that done, I turned to the borders. The border across the top and the bottom will be the same. This is a stitch I played with in the doodle canvas. The light color is 4 strands of floss which I tried hard to lay nicely. The darker color is Grandeur – #5 silk perle.
I wanted them on the top and the bottom because they appear heavier than the ones that will be used on the sides.
So here is how it looks at this point. Another post coming on Thursday will show the design with all the borders done.
Let’s start with the center of the canvas. I have three shades of floss, so I started with the lightest shade and stitched the triangle shapes first. Then I outlined with the darkest shade – good contrast and it shows off the 8 point star nicely. I want to do another version of the 8 point star around it. It’s started in the photo below. I used Copper colored Snow to add a little shimmer to the design.
Next I worked on the corners. Again, it’s a version of the 8 point star. Repeating a motif provides balance and unity to the overall design. The corner stars were done with floss for the small squares that represent the underneath square. The top square is stylized with the stitches done in Goldrush 18. Straight stitches were placed in each direction first to start the “corners” of the top square. Then two long stitches were crossed in the middle. This gives the illusion of a corner in areas between the floss squares, as shown below.
The final photo for today shows the overall design as it appears today. Next I’ll finish the second layer of the 8 point star in the center and then work on the borders along the four sides.
I started with the rug colors – red, black, gold. Then I did a more modern version – pale blue overdye, light blue, and silver. Here’s the last version of this tile – traditional white, yellow, and bright blue.
For this version, I used perle #8 cotton for the white and yellow. The beautiful blue is Flair. I don’t particularly like working with this thread, but the color and the shine made it perfect for this tile. On Congress Cloth, Flair doesn’t lay flat, but even doubled over, it looks good and shines in the light.
I really like all three versions (but I think this is my favorite). And it shows how you can use any combination of three colors to create a beautiful tile coaster. Now it’s time to create a new Moroccan tile pattern. Hopefully, the end of next week.
Last night I finished the outline for the Henna Design. I stitched the outline with Anchor #5 perle cotton. That’s the only place where #5 perle cotton will be used in the design. Here it is so far.
I haven’t made final decisions on the other threads I will be using. I pulled out everything I had that might work with the mono color scheme, which is Anchor threads #349, 351, 352 (they call it Bark). The photo below shows what I have to work with right now. I will be using the Snow I got for Christmas! It’s a perfect match. On the right are two threads that may not work – Neon Rays and Kreinik 1/16 ribbon. Both are more of a rust, so I might try them for a few stitches and then decide if I should keep them or not.
To be continued in a few days.
I’ve had an idea of what I want to do with all the little motifs and patterns I’ve been playing with, but it hasn’t become a full design yet.
Here is the doodle canvas that I’ve been working on. You’ve seen little bits of it over the last few weeks. I do have one more motif that I’ve been playing and haven’t shown you. If I decide to use a version of it in the final design, I’ll explain it at that time.
I decided last week that this was going to be the layout for the Henna Design. It’s a six inch square. The corners are 18 stitch squares. Borders will be 12 stitches wide. Now I need to determine what motifs and patterns will be used, and where they will be placed.
The 8 Point Star is such a common motif in Moroccan rugs, textiles, and embroideries that I want to feature it in the center of the canvas. This will be a version of the first 8 Point Star I did on the doodle canvas. The corners will be a version of the smaller 8 point star that is made by overlaying two small squares. You can also see from this photo that the overall design has a square inside a square. Repetition of a motif is one way to create designs. You may or may not see more as the design develops.
I’ve made a few other decisions on patterns, but I’m not going to give you any more previews. As I begin stitching this week, you’ll see more photos.
Not only is the 8 point star a common element in Moroccan Art, it’s formed in many ways. The first Henna post showed one version. Today is another version, made by putting two squares on top of each other.
In this photo on the left, it is easy to see how the 8 point star is formed. Now I can start to play with the design and see how many ways I can make it. On the right is my first try. Just three stitches to form a triangle, half on straight lines, and half on diagonal lines.
My next try was filing in the entire shape. I used scotch stitch for the image of one square which is underneath and then straight stitches for the top square. This might work with a few adjustments. Scotch done over 4 threads instead of 3 would make it look more solid. The straight stitches could be done in floss or ribbon laid so they fill in better. I’ll have to try that.
One more try, a little bigger. I made the 8 point star in the center using chevrons like the first 8 point star. Then I added a second layer of little squares around the chevrons, some on the diagonal and some straight. Again it might look better with floss or ribbon that can be laid.
Now if I could just get an idea of a design using some of these little motifs I’ve been playing with. I’ll let the little motifs dance in my head for a day or two and see what happens.
After thinking about it overnight, I came up with one more version. I moved the four little squares closer together and then did long stitches across through the middle of each side to imitate the second square. One straight stitch and then two that crossed in the middle. That’s enough playing with this one for a while.
I have written a stitch guide for three of my coasters that have appeared on this blog. The guide includes the 8 Point Star, the Bear Paw and the Star Quilt. There are stitch diagrams, in color, and color photographs of completed coasters to give you some suggestions on colors. The cost is $5.00.
They are available on my web site – www.threadmedley.com.
Click on Catalog and then Stitch Guides.
I hope you enjoy stitching them.
I haven’t had as much time for stitching the last few days, but I found time to finish another coaster. Last time, Marrakesh was stitched in red, gold and black. This time I used a pale blue and silver #8 perle overdye.
The pinwheel element was done in medium blue Splendor and the centers for the pinwheel were stitched using a silvery Needlepoint Inc. silk. It was a better match than the gray Splendor I used in the sample last week (on the left). The final version is on the right. It looks all soft and cool compared to the first version done with red.
