I always want to try at least three color combinations when I create a new coaster design. You saw this version of Arabesque last week.
These are traditional Moroccan floor colors. But I wanted to try other colors as well. I started with a dark blue overdye cotton floss and added white around the blue tiles and a dark red accent on the border.
When I started this tile design, I said that it looked like a little flower garden. So the third version of the design is done with an overdye in olive green and two shades of rose. It’s from Needle Necessities and is called Hydrangea. I manipulated the colors as I stitched. I would start one of the flowers. When the thread changed to olive, I would stitch the little triangles between the flowers. Sometimes, I cut the thread to give me more of the rose colors. The background was done in a light olive green. Again, all the threads are cotton.
Just changing the colors makes a big difference in the finished piece. Just let your imagination drive what colors you choose. This could easily be done in solid colors as well – four or five colors. You could make the flowers several different colors or shade the flowers to be light on one side and darker on the other side.
This design plus two other Moroccan coasters designs that I’ve shown on the blog before will be in the next Stitch Guide that I’m working on right now. It should be available by next week. Then I’ll do another set of three patchwork designs. I’ll post here when they are ready.
I like the way the center of the henna design looked when it was all done. So I decided to make it into a coaster. And, of course I had to get out the overydye threads. On my first attempt, I used Watercolors Geranium for the outer star and light and dark floss for the inner star. By itself, it looked a little bland. I wanted to keep it simple, but it needed a boundary. I made a single row of stitches at the edge of the coaster to help anchor the center star. I then added large Smyrna Crosses to the corners and the center in Watercolors.
I think the border needs to be a little wider and the Smyrna Crosses need to be moved in a little from the corners. The second attempt corrected these two details and I changed colors to one of my favorites – teal with yellow. The outer star is done in Watercolors. The Smyrna Crosses are done with Needle Necessities Butterfly Island. I think it looks better than the first attempt.
The third version has no changes except for the canvas and threads. I used a dark blue canvas and stitched it with pale blue and silver. Nice and frosty for the winter (even though the weather isn’t frosty here at my house).
I’ve picked out some photos of Moroccan Tiles that I want to adapt to needlepoint.I started this one a few days ago. Here is the original tile.
I decided to try this with the same colors as the Moroccan rug for the first version. You don’t see red tiles very often in Morocco, but I love the colors. After I get the kinks out of the pattern, then I’ll pull threads that are closer to the original shown here.
I decided to use Basketweave for the black centers, to keep them nice and flat. All the other stitches are Scotch Stitch done over 4 threads instead of the usual 3 three threads. The pattern looks good and is working out very well so far. Once I have finished a square about two and a half inches across, I’ll do a border, but not the one shown above. The canvas size is too small for that. Here’s is what I’m stitched so far.
Since I’m still working on this design, I’m playing with the colors as well. The overdyed red thread is three strands of floss, and there are two different ones used. The tiles laid horizontally are a bit darker than the ones that are laid vertically. I also used two shades of gold, alternating bright and dark gold. In the next version, I won’t do that. Only one shade of each color will be used. I’ll post again in a few days when this first tile is completed.
Here’s another adaptation of a quilt pattern. You can see the Bear Paw clustered in the center of the coaster, one paw per square. 
This is another 3 inch coaster so it’s a good way to use up some of your stash. I prefer to use overdyes for the four box borders, ThreadWorx or Watercolors, and then solid colors for the bear paw and the background. This particular coaster was done with a Needle Necessities overdye for the boxes. A dark green would be a good choice for the paw, but I went with a golden brown. Fill in the background with any stitch you choose. Since the interior of each square is an odd number, I wasn’t able to continue to fill in the background using the Scotch Stitch, so I used a Byzantine stitch. I’ve used this pattern in some of my boxes as well. With the boxes, the design is a little larger and the Scotch Stitch works for the entire background.
You can use any threads you have in your stash – cottons, silks, wools, metallics, or any combination. The background doesn’t have to be white either. In this version, I used a colored background and it still looks great! Use your imagination and create color combinations that fit your style and color scheme. This is another pattern where you could make a set of coasters with thread left over from another larger project you have completed to reinforce the color scheme you have established.
Patterns for these coasters will be coming the end of January. Please don’t copy my patterns.
Time for another post on choosing colors and a new coaster. This coaster design is called Star Quilt. I started out making it from three different colors. One color for the background, one for the stars, and a third for the little square fillers. This looks great in red, white and blue. Or you can try two shades of one color and an accent color, like two shades of blue and a very pale yellow in this picture.
Then I decided to do the design in four colors – two shades of aqua, dark brown, and white.
I can’t seem to leave a design the way I originally design it. So I decided to try it with an overdye. This one is done with Needle Necessities #178 – shades of lavender, pale olive green, and pale wedgwood blue. I chose white for the stars and then dark purple for the center of the stars and the filler squares.
This one is my favorite. It doesn’t even seem like the same design. That’s why it’s fun to play with different colors and types of thread. They can change the way a project looks, and it’s so easy to do. I used the same stitches on all three of these coasters.
P.S. If you’re interested in making these little coasters, I’ll be charting them over the next month or so. They will be available for purchase, hopefully by the end of January. I created these on my own, so please respect the copyright. Thank you.
While I’m reworking Motif #3 on the Moroccan rug, here’s a coaster that I designed several years ago. This star is created by making four chevrons together. It’s a great way to use up leftover threads from other projects. Normally I make this with one overdye and two solid colors. But you can use any type of thread. I’ve used Kreinik #16 (in the second picture below), wool, silk, and any combination of these. If you’ve completed a project that will be in your living room, make a set of coasters from the remaining threads to match. The combinations are endless. They are mounted in three inch acrylic coasters.
This first picture shows the original version. I use overdyed threads for the center star and for the corners. I prefer a light color for the center and a darker color for the outside border. A set of coasters with this Watercolors could be the same center and background and a different dark color for the outside border (pink, lime, and yellow would be great).
This second version has only one little change, but it makes a big difference. The small square in the corner of the background that is surrounded by the overdye thread is now the same color as the outside border. In this particular coaster I used an overdye for the background and Kreinik #16 for the star.
The newest version leaves out the background around the star. I finished it off by putting diagonal stitches for the background. Each diagonal row is four threads from the previous row.
