Choosing Colors for a Project

I like Laura Perin Designs (http://laurajperindesigns.tripod.com/index.htm) and have stitched several over the last year. When I saw this pattern last year – Starry Nights – I knew I had to stitch it for myself. I loved the colors that Laura used.

Laura calls this a Color Study, so I decided to change the colors to do a little studying of my own. You start with an overdyed thread and then pick colors from that thread to create the design. Laura also suggested putting in one color that was not in the overdye, as an accent or surprise. Laura used green for the surprise color in her stitched design above. I decided to stitch this on Congress Cloth instead of 18 ct. canvas, so the threads I selected were floss, perle cotton #8, and Kreinik #4 braid. I started with my overdye.

This is Wildflowers from Needle Necessities (1062 – Pastel Sunset from ThreadWorX). I wanted to use yellow as the main color, but there aren’t a lot of shades of yellow and it would be hard to tell them apart in the piece (light and medium just look too much alike). I picked the blue-green as the main color and added yellow, rose, and a touch of peach. Then I needed my surprise color – I picked orchid.

This design is done in two passes. The first pass puts in the main quilt designs. The second pass fills in around them. I enjoyed stitching this and like the color combination. I don’t do much stitching with yellow, but now that it’s done I think I’ll call it “Sunny Days” as a compliment Laura’s design. It’s fun to see it come alive as you stitch. When you start, you’re not sure exactly how it will look when it’s done (if you change colors like I did), so it keeps you moving to see what will happen next.

 

Blue Rug on 18 ct

I’ve been thinking about the blue rug on 18 ct canvas. I decided to test different kinds of thread on 18 ct. to see what would look good. I’m using what I have in my stash, but there is some variety there. First up was Sheep’s Silk from Thread Gatherer (never tried overdyes with the rug motifs before). This thread works well, but is a little more wool-like than the Silk & Ivory. I like overdyes and this type of thread would definitely make an interesting rug. Here’s what it looks like:

Then I tried some Vineyard Silk, which is beautiful to work with. I’d love to do a rug with this thread. It has a large number of colors and is soft and easy to handle. I didn’t have many colors in my stash, so this doesn’t have a good range of colors, but you get the idea. Beautiful, rich colors. I would have to add more shades of red, yellow, etc. to have more options as I work on motifs.

Okay, you may not have a lot of money to invest in a large project. The blue rug cost me over $100 just in thread. So what would a rug look like if I did it only in cotton? I had to find out. The easiest would be to do the whole rug in #5 perle cotton. No need to worry about how many strands to use, etc. So I pulled some perle and created another one. It has some shine, like the silk and I think it would hold up very well over time. It makes a good alternative to some of the more expensive threads.

Then I thought about Trio. This is the strandable wool/silk from Brown Paper Packages, the maker of Silk & Ivory. My LNS doesn’t carry this thread, so I couldn’t get any to work with at this time. I’m sure it would be just as wonderful too. I went to their website and did my thing with the multiple open windows, etc. and came up with two color schemes that I love.

Now you know my three favorite color combinations. First is the blue/brown combo, where I added rust and yellow accents. Then the teal/rust combo, with just a touch of magenta and maybe a gold. And last the green/wine comb , with accents in rose and yellow.  You’ll notice that there is a very light color (a neutral) in each set. I really like the Nose motif done in a very light color to set it off with all the other colors around it. If I decide to do another large size rug, I would probably go with the teal/rust. It does remind me of Morocco – the sand and all that.

When I start on the stitch guide for the blue rug, I’ll do a sample rug (about 1/4 of the design) in perle cotton (using the colors above) to get an idea of how much thread it would take to make the rug. On 18 count canvas, it would be about 11″ x 21.” I have three other stitch guides to write this month, so I’ll put this away for right now and pick it up again in May.

What do all of you think? Which kind of thread would you choose? Would you use 13 ct. or 18 ct canvas? And I’d love to hear what color combinations you would use – which two main colors and what accent colors.

Choosing Colors

I have too many things going right now. Several small projects I’m trying to finish up quickly and several bigger projects that I will work on slowly over the rest of the year. Now I’ve added another one. Our chapter president has given us a 9 Patch challenge. We can use the two coaster patterns that I taught everyone in January (Bear Paw and 8 Point Star) and the pretty little heart project from this month. Each month in our chapter newsletter, she will give us another pattern to put in the 9 Patch. One square we have to create on our own. I already know what I’ll do for that one. The sashing between the squares and the border will be our own as well.

So I dug out overdyed threads and played for a while. Put them all away and started again. Here is the overdye I chose – a Valdani #8 perle. I’m going to use Congress Cloth for my 9 Patch.

This is not in my comfort zone. I’ve never been a purple person. Then I needed to find other threads to go with this overdye. I pulled floss, #8 perle and some #4 Kreinik Braid. Here’s everything I have to work with so far. You’ll notice that I didn’t pick a true purple. I picked Amethyst from Anchor and hope it will work.

The canvas in on its scroll frame and I’ve decided what to do for the sashing between the squares. I’ll work on this 1-2 times a week and post pictures as I finish a square, maybe once a month.

Henna Design Outline Done

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.

Playing With Moroccan Tile Colors

I’ve been playing with colors, trying to find three colors to make another Marrakesh Tile using more traditional tile floor colors. Blue is a very common color on walls and floors, so that’s what I’m playing with today. The following are three color schemes I’ve come up with, but I’m not really excited by any of them.

 

This one uses an #8 overdye that is light blue and light gray. The other shades of gray and blue are Splendor. This reminds somewhat of my master bath floor tile. The gray in the overdye is more silver, so the gray used in the center of the pinwheel part looks too dull. I may have to switch to floss to find a closer match.

 

 

 

 

This second photo uses two shades of Splendor and a wool/silk overdye that is off-white with a touch of rose and beige. I thought it would look like tumbled marble tiles that are used so much today. The lighter blue centers look dirty or gray. I’ll have to try a lighter blue maybe.

 

 

 

 

This third photo probably comes the closest to what I’m trying for. But I complicated it by using two different dark blues, since I couldn’t decide which to use.  I will have to decide which of the two to use as both wouldn’t look good on a full design. The yellow is Splendor. The white is Neon Rays. The two pinwheel’s on the left are Neon Rays and the one on the right is Flair. I don’t really care for Flair, but it actually think the blue is the best of the threads I’ve tried.

 

So what do you readers think? What works? What doesn’t?

Aren’t you glad you don’t have to make the decisions? This is usually the fun part for me, but I’m not sold on any of them just yet.

Playing with Henna Patterns

The eight pointed star is  major theme in all forms of Moroccan Art, from rugs, to textiles, to tiles. Henna tattoos are no different. So the first motif I worked with is the eight pointed star.  I decided to do the practice stitches using perle cotton #5 in two shades of reddish brown (like the henna color) on ecru 18 ct mono canvas. Outlining the star was easy – all stitches go over 8 threads using the darker color. 

Then I filled in some of the spaces with the lighter color. I know that doing straight stitches for the outside triangles won’t cover well, but this is practice and I want to find out what works and what doesn’t work. I like the star outlined in the darker color, but the lighter color doesn’t seem to offer enough contrast. The  next version I’ll use a lighter shade.

I don’t like the center. I did a square on point – over 4 threads with the dark color. It’s filled in with the lighter shade done in basketweave. Originally, I wanted to do another decorative stitch on top of the center, but that won’t work with this version. So it’s time for some more playing.

 

The straight stitches don’t look good with perle #5 straight stitches. I tried doing them with slanted stitches, using two small triangles for each of the larger triangles. This looks much better, but now there’s no room for the dark stitch outline. Then I tried a second version of this with the dark thread outline and then filling in with the lighter color (on the bottom of this photo). This looks better, but may not be the final version.

 

 

 

 

 

Then I needed to play with the center to find a better solution. I tried a Rhodes stitch in the lighter color. This looks better but I think it add too much texture, height, to the motif. I think this stitch would dominate the star and it’s the star that should be the focus point.

Next I tried a large Smyrna Cross. I think this looks better, but I’m not sure how it will look inside the whole motif. Time to go play some more.

Another Version of the Meadow

I usually don’t like bright or wild colors in my designs, but I know some people do. With that in mind, I went searching for wildly colored overdyed floss. I found one with orange, gold, and light brown and another with purple, pink, and orange.  Since there are only two threads this time, you will see that one set of opposite corners are done in one thread. the other two corners are done with the second thread.

Then someone asked me to make a set of coasters. She like the original version of the Meadow, but wanted different colors to go with her decor. She asked for green and rose. I had the perfect overdye for that. I had used it for a large project for my home. The only problem was that the design was too big for a coaster. I told her I would have to use a different canvas (Congress Cloth) and would probably have to do a border to make it the right size. I did one and sent her a photo by email. With her approval, I finished the rest of the set of four coasters. Here is the final version, done with only ONE overdye and threads in rose, green, and beige pulled from the overdyed floss.

Actually, I think this is my favorite of the three. That’s probably because it’s a color scheme that I already have in my home and really like.

I’ll be taking a few days off now. Hope all of you have a Happy Holiday and find some time to stitch!

Creating a Quilt Pattern

You already know that I love translating quilt patterns into needlepoint. I decided to show you the process I go through. This is a pattern that I liked the first time I saw it.

 

I knew I didn’t want to do the entire quilt, so I had to decide where to cut the original so I would have a smaller design that would have a distinctive look. This picture on the right is what I came up with. Not what you expected, is it?

Then I had to decide what colors to use and what my overall design goal would be. I’ve thought a lot about how to make needlepoint quilts look like real quilts made with fabric. How do I put in lots of colors, the patterns of the fabric, and still keep the overall look and feel of a quilt? This would be the goal for this particular project.

 

Now for the colors to use. In order to imitate fabric I decided to use overdyed floss. In regular quilts you use many different fabrics, so why not do the same for threads? I pulled out lots of overdyed floss and found four threads that have similar colors and would work together. Here’s a photo of my overdyed threads. There are shades of olive green, rust, beige and gray. Then I pulled floss in several shades of each of those main colors.

 

 

Now it was time to figure out how to imitate fabric. I decided that the four squares in the middle would be done in Milanese with solid color floss to fill in the spaces.

The squares in the four corners are done in Alternating Scotch, each corner done completely with ONE of the overdyed floss colors. Then it was time to fill in all the triangles. When it was all done, here is how it looked. It’s mounted in a Sudberry box.

I’ve received many compliments on this design, even from a lot of quilters. In the next post, I’ll show you two more color schemes for this design, done with one and with two overdyed threads.

 

 

 

Unique Needlepoint Gift Idea

I prefer Anchor threads over DMC and my LNS doesn’t sell them. A few years ago I went searching on the Internet for a store that sells them and has an online catalog so I could order them whenever I needed specific colors. I found a place in PA and Jennifer and I have established a great friendship over the years.

My husband wanted to know what I wanted for Christmas and asked about needlepoint stuff. I proposed this idea to him, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to email Jennifer and so forth. So I decided to treat myself! I wrote to Jennifer and told her I needed white mono canvas, white Congress Cloth and some threads. Was she up to a little fun? She said yes.

I told her I wanted to add a little to my stash. I would give her some suggestions on colors and threads and SHE would do all the selections.

She wanted to know if they were all going to be used in the same project -No

Did I want to try some Ribbon Floss – Yes

How much can I spend – Gave her a dollar amount (including the cost of canvas)

Colors – I don’t have much red, black or yellow

Thread – Kreinik 1/16 ribbon (which I love), Snow in different color and Watercolors  

She picked out everything she thought I would like and added a few other threads too. My early Christmas present arrived late last week and this is what I got:

5 Watercolors, 5 silk ribbon floss, 7 Kreinik 1/16 ribbon, 3 Snow

Did you know that Kreinik made a two-tone ribbon – this one on the left goes from red to purple and back to red.

You’ll notice that even if they aren’t all used in the same project, most of them can be mixed and matched. I see Moroccan coasters in that red Watercolors. Now to decide what to make using some of those new threads.

Color Stripes

I love this site and have to pass it along to everyone. If you don’t know Kris, she is an artist and fashion designer in Italy! She shares her color notebook online for everyone to enjoy. Recently, she put up a post of tile floors that reminds me of tile floors in Morocco. 

With each page of her color notebook, she post a photo or drawing, etc. and then shows the color palette that she has pulled from the photo, etc. This is a terrific tool for needleworkers. Instant color choices for any of your projects. Here are two tile floors and palettes from the post (shown with her permission).

 

 

Beautiful, aren’t they? And so perfect to adapt to needlepoint. I can’t wait to start creating some new designs from Moroccan tiles next year.

Even subtle changes in color – they add depth to any design. Thank you Kris for inspiring us.

 

Be sure to visit her site – it’s in my Blogroll – Kris’ Color Stripes.