It took several days and lots of trial and error, but I finally decided on what to do for the sections that go out on an angle between the rest/green squares. First, here is how it looked once I finished the rust/green boxes.
Then I added stitching for the angles. I used floss for this, backstitching a line in brown first. Then I added the light green and finally the light rust. The final step was to stitch the dark green X with a light green + over it.
It’s delicate enough to add to the design, but not heavy enough to draw attention away from the boxes on the outside and the focal point in the middle. I love fall colors, so this was an easy project for color choices. It could easily be done in other colors as well.
Now I need to get back to work on the High Atlas Pillow. See you in a few days.
Though most people think of rugs when you mention Morocco, embroidery is also beautiful and plentiful. Fez (or Fes) is considered the embroidery center. Stitching is usually done in silk and can be quite detailed and delicate. The photo below shows a sample of some embroidery.
Even in the embroidery you can see the 8-pointed star motif. So I decided to try a design based on embroidery and started with the star. It was stitched with #5 perle cotton that is overdyed. I left a space between each of the chevrons used to create the star. I used a brown floss to fill the space – long, straight stitches.
The brown diamonds are backstitched. I pulled #5 perle colors to go with the overdye and then decided as I started stitching that the perle cotton was too thick. So I used floss for the rest of the design. The Rhodes stitch inside each diamond has a bright yellow that was stitch using every other hole. Then I filled in the remaining holes with orange. I like the way this looks, imitating the overdye but only using two colors.
Next I worked on another motif just two stitches away from the edges of the diamonds. I started by stitching long, brown stitches. You can see where I started with a pin stitch in the middle to secure the thread. This will be covered up later. Though I’m enjoying designing and stitching this piece, I’m finding it hard to start and stop threads because I don’t want them to show through the canvas. Most of the stitching is started using this pin stitch.
Then I stitched the half Scotch stitches using 4 ply light rust floss for the two that are closest to the center of the piece, and darker rust for the other two. To finish the motif, I used 2 ply of light green floss with #8 Kreinik braid to finish the Scotch stitch closest to the center of the piece, leaving an empty space where the longest stitch would go. I repeated the floss and Kreinik in a darker green for the last two. The center Smyrna stitch was then done in orange floss.
In my next post, I’ll show you the rest of the design and a photo of the finished piece. I will also let you help me decide if it should be framed as is, or on point. Stay tuned.
I’ve finished the new, bright version of the Henna Star design. Continuing where I left off in the last post, I did the top and bottom borders. When I stitched the aqua V stitches, they seemed too light. But when I added the brown in between the aqua stitches, they were perfect.
Then I needed to stitch the side borders. After stitching the V stitches, I added a darker turquoise Sprinkles for the little running stitch between them. The eye motif is brown Impressions with the same Sprinkles for the + in the middle. Purple beads were added for an extra punch. These side borders are busy, but I feel the heavier motifs on the top and bottom give them a balance.
Time for the lattice around the large star in the middle of the design. The lattice was created by long stitches in overdyed Kreinik braid (purple and turquoise). Then a bead was added at each intersection. Here is a photo of the corner, all finished.
The final touch was to do 4 long stitches in purple Fyre Werks Hologram. And here is the final photo. A very bright version which I really like. Though I’m partial to the original version too.
I did the original of this design last December. I used ecru canvas and reddish brown threads to imitate a real henna design on skin.
I decided that I needed to do another version, to show you that the design can be created using any color of threads and canvas that you choose. The new version was stitched on a gray canvas using bright colors – turquoise and purple. I started with a #5 perle cotton overdye this time for the outline of the piece.
The next step was to stitch the four corner motifs. I used Impressions for the Scotch stitches and Fyre Werks Hologram for the crossed stitches. I don’t like the Hologram version of this thread, but it worked very well for these long stitches. I found the trick was to make sure I laid the stitches on the back of the canvas as well as the front of the canvas. The fairly stiff thread looks good for this motif.
When the corners were done, I started on the center star. I used Impressions again for the inner star. Then added Sprinkles for the outer star. I like the sparkle of metallic thread here to pick up the light and draw attention to the center of the piece. I’ll add more Sprinkles for the center of the square later.
Quite a change from the first version, isn’t it? This is a good way to use up some of those partial skeins you have in your stash. In my next post, I’ll show you the rest of the piece. This would be too bright for me if I didn’t use the gray canvas to tone it down a little. Some of you might like it on white.
This will be the final post for the High Atlas Rug. I promised I would tell you what I liked best about it.
First is my favorite insert, the one shown below. This one really gives the Moroccan feel to me. The sections that were done in the yellow area match the black section in size, so it is more balanced.
The my second favorite is the star bands, one of which is shown below. The vertical bands in the rug had to stay fairly straight and lined up because of the space available on each side of the motifs. With the two horizontal bands (the star bands) I had a little more room to play around. The stars were placed fairly even across the row, but they are one or two threads above or below each other. Then I did the same thing with the small motifs between them. It gives a more haphazard arrangement, which I really like.
The photo also shows the small black band so you can see how I changed it to be simpler and lighter. Don’t be afraid to change an element if it isn’t to your liking. Sometimes it changes the whole look of the piece – small change and a big change. This was was a great improvement to the overall look of the rug.
Thank you for all the comments about the finished rug! I enjoy hearing from you.
I started planning a new pillow pattern last night. Hopefully I’ll get it figured out in time to stitch it online in a week or two. I’ll use the leftover thread from this project, but Peanut Butter won’t be the main color this time.
69 days!
15 skeins of Trio thread, and 5 cards of Splendor Silk were used to complete this High Atlas Rug.
It measures 13.5 inches X 23 inches.
Here is the original rug so you can compare it with my adaptation. My colors are a little softer but close to the original. And mine is definitely smaller in size.
My goals for this rug were to create a needlepoint rug that looked like a woven rug and I feel I accomplished that goal. The second goal was to create motifs that could be woven into the rug as I stitched. Some of the motifs do contain the Brick Stitch which I used to create the woven feel of the original. Others used different stitches, but I like the look of them within in the rug. The motifs stand out a little more because of the use of other stitches.
There are two things I don’t like about the rug. The dandruff of the canvas showing through in many parts of the rug is my main complaint. The second is the green that I used in the rug. When used in very tiny amounts it’s okay, but it seems too much in some of the motifs. Maybe if I had used more of an olive green, it would have blended in a little more. The description of the original rug said they used green but I really don’t see any myself.
Here is my completed High Atlas Rug:
Despite my grumbling about the dandruff, I think she turned out nicely. She’s similar to the original, but not identical. There were more motifs on the original. There was no set pattern for the vertical bands and the star bands, and I felt some were too crowded so I made them cleaner and simpler. Over the weekend I’ll post one more time about this rug, telling you about my favorite parts.
Thank you for making the journey from blank canvas to completed rug with me. As usual after finishing a large project, I long for small projects for a while, so you’ll see a new version of the Henna Star design next week. After that, who knows what I’ll be working on. There are several things in the works.
There isn’t much to show today, so let’s do a question first. Looking at the rug, which color do you think would use the most thread? How about second most? I purchased five skeins of Trio to try out the thread and determine how much I would need to stitch the rug. The yellow and black used in the inserts is about the same amount and when you take out the design in the middle of each black band, I would have a little left over. I decided to purchase one extra skein for the beginning and ending band. I also figured that there was a lot more of the background color (peanut butter) than anything else, so I ordered several extra skeins of that. Now that I’m almost finished, I discovered something over the weekend. I’m going to have almost 4 skeins of the peanut butter background left over!! And I might not have enough black to finish! All the others colors I planned just right. The problem with the black was having to use 3 ply instead of 2 ply to cover the canvas better. So I used the same number of skeins of black and peanut butter to do this rug. Who would have thought?
I’m now working on the final two bands. The X boxes are half finished and the black band is a third finished. Everything is looking good and I hope to have this finished by Saturday. We’ll have to see. Here is the final work area:
And here’s the whole rug as it is today. One more post and then it will be time to go over the good and bad things about the project. Stay tuned.
All the vertical bands are now complete! I finished the band on the right last night. I also took the time to take out the center of the motif in band 5 (bottom left). It didn’t look as good as the original one and I found that I had not counted properly when adding the various layers to form the diamond. I added a row of stitches over 1 thread in the same dark brown as the last layer and then stitched the center again. Now it looks better and matches the first version. On the left below is insert 5 and the last 3 motifs in the left band. On the right, insert 6 and the last 4 motifs on the right band.
All that’s left now are the two horizontal bands that I used to start the rug. The large X boxes and the final black band. I’ll probably work on them both over the next few days, alternating between the two. As I’ve said before, the black is hard to stitch at night.
When the rug is finished in another week to 10 days, I’ll go over my goals for the rug to see if I accomplished what I set out to do. I’ll also tell you about what parts I really like, what things went wrong, and maybe even tell you about some upcoming projects to share with you too.
The last insert is now complete. I changed it a little by eliminating two of the diamond shapes and switching the background to Brick Stitch like the rest of the rug. I was never really happy with the Basketweave Stitch on the first version. Around the outside of the center motif I only used one color, rather than the two in the first version. It’s better now, but I’m still not completely happy with it.
I was hoping to finish the band on the left side of the rug last night, but only added one motif. I’ll add the one that looks like Irish Chain today and then see if there is room for two more motifs or just one. Then I’ll move on the the right side of the rug and finish that band. I think there is room for 5 motifs on that side. So close to be finished. It’s getting exciting now to see how long it will take to complete this fourth rug.
Many of you who read my blog know about Judy Harper of Austin, Texas. She shares her painted canvases, stitching tips, and free fun projects on her two blogs Possibilities, etc and Freebies, etc! (which are listed in the Blogroll to the right). She also writes an article for each issue of Needlepoint Now Magazine.
The issue that is mailing this week is for September and October. In her latest article she interviewed me about how I got started adapting Berber rugs to needlepoint and shows the inspiration and my adaptation of the Blue Rug from the Middle Atlas of Morocco.
I’m hoping that people who read the article will come here and see what I’m working on now and continue to read along as I work on more projects based on Moroccan and Berber art. Now you know why I’m in no hurry to finish the High Atlas Rug. I didn’t want to finish it before the article came out.
I’m working on some smaller designs to do after the latest rug is completed. And I have a small stitch-along project to share with all of you for the One Year Anniversary of this blog on October 16th!! Stay tuned. There is a lot more to come.
