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!

High Atlas Pillow – Progress 4

Time to work on the third of the rectangles that border the center square. This one is on the opposite side of the center from the first rectangle and repeats the use of small triangles to create a motif. This is a motif that appeared on my first Moroccan rug, the red one.

This one had no problems and stitched up quickly. Looking at it today, I think I should pull out stitches at the very bottom of the Gobelin bands and add one more stitch. I don’t like the canvas showing through in those places. Here is the rug after the third rectangle was completed.

Each time I worked on this pillow over the past week, I’ve look at the rectangle to the left of today’s rectangle. And each day, I dislike the open weave on that rectangle, so I ripped it out and stitched it again. This time I used a solid color and a simple diamond stitch to fill in the area. I like this better, but I think it’s still the weakest of the rectangles I’ve stitched so far. I won’t rip it out again, but it’s still not quite fitting nicely with the others. Here is the reworked rectangle.

I did pull apart the four strands and then put them back together, but it doesn’t cover as well as I would like. Trying to decide if I should pull out one part and redo it with 6 strands. Not sure yet. On to the last of the rectangles.

My Zellig – Final Comments

I would like to see the tiles you have created with this zellig pattern. You can email them to me at jan@threadmedley.com. There is a link in the column on the right. I’ll put them up on the blog if you give me permission.

I originally designed this little tile because I wanted a design I could use as tile on the wall of a needlepoint Moroccan room. As you can see now that you have stitched the tile, it’s WAY too big for that idea. I will have to create a much smaller tile that can be repeated for the walls of a room. If I use the Mosaic Stitch as a tile, and change colors as I create a pattern, maybe that would work better. Now I need to play with graph paper. See why I don’t get a lot of stitching done each day? I get a new idea and have to sketch and try things out while it’s fresh in my mind.

This zellig pattern can be repeated to create a larger design that can be placed in a tote bag, etc. The design below was done with the same cross stitch software but I used the colored squares instead of stitch lines. This way you can try changing the stitches if you want and create your own version of the design.

An on point square is created in the center of the four repeats. I’ve put an 8-pointed star in the space with a Smyrna Cross in the center of it. You could also create your own little motif to fill the space. Let your imagination guide you – have some fun!

I’m hoping to take the original tile and create a version that is more complicated and closer to the original. I’ll keep you posted on my progress. Right now it’s back to the pillow so I can get it completed.  Look for posts on that later in the week.