A Very Velvet Pumpkin with Blending Filament Sparkle!

I really haven't gotten very far along with this, as it took me a while to decide what to do with it. It's a good one to demonstrate the simple beauty of blending filament - and I always enjoy using petite Very Velvet. This orange is great!!

The orange outline is plain DMC floss in a darker orange. The features are yellow floss with the addition of the blending filament, as supposedly there is a candle inside.

I'll do the background in YLI Ribbon Floss in black - but outside the circle, I'm not sure what, but probably bargello of some sort. Mitered, I'm sure. I had bought a while back, some Petite Frosty Rays in black with a gold thread through it - so will HAVE to use that. Good excuse!!

The close-up shows clearly the beauty of using the blending filament with floss for just a very subtle sparkle, randomly showing. The "how to" and "why" of doing this is posted on the other blog - Possibilities, Etc. I like to outline the shape before using a textured background - and this one is done by changing direction each quarter section so that there will be no "sawtooth" edges. You can see by just looking at the arrows.

I started at center top, and then at center side, just turned the canvas and kept going - thereby eliminating that sawtooth. Very neat and smooth for a small piece - and also, it makes it easier to stitch bargello around it.

The stem is also Petite Very Velvet, and the vines and leaves are DMC cotton floss.

The pattern for this piece is somewhere on the blog - probably under "napkin rings" - but this one is destined for a table ornament, or maybe a "kissing ball."

The Evolutions of an Ornament

Still playing around with the hearts on canvas - I really like the "4-way" design, but decided it needed to be divided in order to appear as hearts, and not just a red blob. The circle is the 4 1/4" one already showing in a previous post, and marked with the centers of horizontal and vertical, and the four diagnoals.
After stitching a smyrna cross in the exact center, and then the diagonals (Kreinik silver in the Vintage, as I wanted no sparkle, but a nice metallic gleam), I decided to be clever and add some flowers around the heart motif. I got lucky, and it actually made a circular pattern - but after stitching them, again in smyrna crosses for "bumps," all I could see was those awful looking squares - soooo back to doodling on canvas.

Incidentally, I used the Caron Watercolours for the hearts in a very subtle overdye - not too obvious, but interesting.
This time, after marking diagonals on a scrap of canvas, I drew different flowers - some from one of my "laces and trims" collection, and they made a splendid circle around the central motif. I do hope they look as good when stitched! For placement, I first made little marks where the tops of the heart would be.

Now, off to rip out the squares and to paint out the other flowers, and back to work. Tune in tomorrow, as I will have hopefully enough worked to visualize the finished piece - and then the chart for printing and working your own.

Bargello Pattern: 4-way Egg finished!

The egg is finished - and it really didn't take very long. I will be brief on the editorializing, as I have a post on the other blog from yesterday dealing with the threads used and why they were selected. Also, the main instructions for doing this sort of project are in a previous Freebies post -the first 4-way Bargello ornament.

This pattern was put onto an egg shape 5 1/2" high x 4 1/4" wide (on 18 mesh canvas). It would be slightly larger, of course, on 13 mesh.The central motif will also fit, with a little juggling, onto the smaller egg which is included with the previous post, as well as on the 4" circle provided on the circle drawing tutorial. Only a small amount of juggling with the outer color bands would accomplish it. I made one fit by simply leaving out the white ribbon floss frame just inside the magenta/purple band, but leaving the metallic ribbon.
I switched to the light blue Sharpie ultra fine point permanent pen for the centering and diagonals, as it is easier to stitch over and doesn't show through. Also, it was easier to dot out with acrylic paint when clearing the center around the flower for the basketweave background in white so it wouldn't show through, as black might have done. Notice that the horizontal center was marked at the widest part of the egg, and not at the vertical halfway point.
Showing the stitching in sequence illustrates how easy this is to do - one simply fills in around the central, rather square 4-way motif, to fill up space in whatever shape you choose to make the ornament. This scan shows the blue dots I placed for the beads.

The detail illustrates the placement of the pretty purple Sundance beads - but you could substitute just small "bump" stitches with contrasting metallic threads for an accent. I do this by simply making an X in the space. And now the Chart:




















ADDENDUM: This has been a very popular design - so I've put two more egg patterns for sale as E-patterns on my web page, ELEGANT WHIMSIES. E-patterns come direrectly to you, and may be downloaded and printed out at your convenience.

4-way Flowers in Bargello: A Preview!

I have just put a short tutorial on Possibilities, etc. on the subject of the 4-way bargello on an egg, using the flowers I'm developing - great fun on a cold day while watching the History channel! I'll have the piece finished, hopefully, in a few days, and can post the charts and instructions here - but meanwhile, take a look at the other blog and maybe try it on your own. This is a detail of the center with the beginning of the 4-way "frame."
The blue flower has no leaves yet, as I'm tired, and need to study it tomorrow. - but here is the chart for the little pink one to keep you busy.

Bargello Progress

I couldn't resist working on this for a few hours again today. It really comes to life with the outer framework finished - and you can see the beauty of using threads with different surface textures to further enhance the look. It would work to simply use floss or perle cotton - but is sooo much more interesting with a bit of shine and sparkle.

Outside the primary framework of the mitered bargello, it is simply a matter of filling in the blank spaces. I continued to use the format of "over 4 threads" that I had used on the other white elements, and just filled in as I could against the outline.

Backing up a little bit, this second picture (close-up) shows how very very easy it is to turn the corner at the 45 degree diagonal if you mark it first with dots out from the center.

I had to make a trip "out" today to get a big bag of cotton floss in Spring colors to start making the next ornaments and eggs, and now am starting to visualize different flowers in 4-way bargello. Quite a challenge with buttercups, etc.!! Something to look forward to, as this is my favorite part of the design process.

P.S. Update! I just posted a picture of the finished ornament on the other blog!

A Four-Way Bargello Ornament (or Egg)

I didn't get this finished, but thought it's far enough along to see what it will look like - and also easier to use as a guide for stitching. Also, I chose to use the bright colors of the season, which could easily be replaced with the colors of spring for an egg - or any color you wish on a small circle. I drew the pattern so it would fit either this 4" octagonal shape, a 4" circle, or the egg, which is 3 5/8" wide by 4 5/8" high. (on 18 mesh canvas).

As usual, I enjoyed using fibers with different textures instead of lots of different colors. The whites are YLI ribbon floss for it's shine, Kreinik metallic ribbon 1/16" in color #032 (white) and plain old DMC Perle cotton #3. The flower is made with Frosty Rays, and its center is four smyrna crosses in yellow Ribbon Floss. The leaves are Kreinik 1/16" ribbon in green. The light green just inside the darker green Perle Cotton border is also Ribbon Floss. (I love this stuff, as it's so versatile) The gold outline is Kreinik gold 002HL ribbon 1/16", and the red is the same width metallic ribbon.
The drawing on canvas is easy to follow. As always, I outlined the shape first to confine the bargello stitches and make the edges smooth and even. It's much easier to stitch this way. Also, I made the chart to fit the octagon, so you would need to expand the stitches to fill in the circle shape, as well as the egg, which is very easy to do.

Another alternative would be to simply fill in with basketweave around the basic four-way bargello motif. I have marked the centers on both designs, but you will need to mark the diagonals yourself on the circle (trusty Sharpie or Pilot ultra fine point drawing pen)

I have marked the flower center for you on the egg, as well as the diagonals. Again, I have drawn the chart with the top of the motif cut off, as it was made to fit the octagonal, but you would go ahead and expand it to use on the egg.



This motif has many possibilities both as shapes and colors, and the way of setting it up. I can see maybe Petite Very Velvet in basketweave as a background around it, and maybe a few beads set in. (of course). Enjoy being creative and adding you own touches and ideas! The stitch count is very simple - just based on two, three, and four threads high for the stitches - nothing complicated or elaborate for this one!! Just have fun and relax!