Happy Background Month to all who celebrate!
It’s been more than a minute since I’ve devoted a month of blogs to one topic. This month will focus on one of my favorite background themes: columns. I often mention that a blog stitch can be repurposed as columns, so I’m sharing some column ideas that have been rattling around in my head.
Columns for backgrounds are not a groundbreaking idea, but I encourage you to consider stitches other than satin stitches for columns. Columns are versatile and easy to create to suit any subject matter. Columns typically don’t overwhelm a canvas, and yet they can still be fun on their own. They can be full coverage or open stitches.
Click on image to see on pinterest. Visit pinterest.com/whimsicalstitch/whimsicalwednesday for a library of all #whimsicalwednesday and #smallspacesunday stitch diagrams.
Click the image to see #whimsicalwednesday and #smallspacesunday Stitched Sample Gallery on Instagram
The inspiration for this stitch was Layered Diamonds from a 2022 blog post. I adjusted the layering slightly by centering it over the lower set of diamonds, but you can do any version you prefer. I used Silk Lame 18 for the black lines and three plies of Soie D'Alger for the yellow lines. Since the Soie was on top (to help ensure the metallic Silk Lame doesn’t overwhelm the background), I wielded my laying tool to make it look as if I ironed the Soie, and I’m very happy with the result.
If you are concerned about the open canvas in and/or between the columns, fabricators have a wonderful technique to make the most of it. Many pillow finishers or framers will put a lightweight, gauzy piece of fabric between the canvas and the pillow form, or between the canvas and the mounting boards/foam core/backing boards in framing. It’s a wonderful technique. (Caveat: I may not be using the exact correct terms for framing, but I hope you get the idea.)
And last, but not least, this stitch is scalable, and you can accomplish some wonderful things with larger diamonds and/or adjusting the open space between columns. Also, you can add quiet stitches to the open space. I’ll talk about that next week.
Happy Background Month!
A preview of volume 5. Stay tuned for more info!
And, yes, my book is almost on its way to stores! Mary’s Whimsical Stitches Volume 5 is dedicated to background stitches of all sizes and shapes.
Packed with over 150 stitches, Volume 5 offers you the widest variety of backgrounds. There are large backgrounds, small backgrounds, and everything in between. And more than 75% of the stitches will have a QR code taking your customers to a stitched sample. The target ship date is now early July.
Hope you have fun with the stitch and are as excited about Volume 5 as I am!
A Note about Diagrams
I use color in diagrams to make them as clear as possible. The primary function of different colored lines is to illustrate a stitch sequence. For example, the layering of colors demonstrates that you add them in that order. They can also provide ideas for integrating additional threads (one line per color). Or, you can use the same thread for all color lines. That's where I encourage you to use your imagination for the space you are stitching.
Click on image to see the whimsicalstitch.com Stitch Library on pinterest.com. Includes all #whimsicalwednesday and #smallspacesunday stitch diagrams.
Evaluating Stitches for Your Project
As you are auditioning stitches (from any stitch source), count the number of canvas threads on the diagram that match your mesh size. And there you have what an inch of the stitch will look like. Evaluate it against the area where you plan to use the stitch, then make your final decision. If you start integrating this step into your stitch selection process, you may be surprised at how many stitches you think are large are much smaller than you realize.
A Note about Stitch Names
I am absolutely loving the rising popularity of needlepoint, and if you are new to the blog, I want to take a second to chat about stitch names (again). TLDR: Don’t overthink them.
Most of the names for the stitches you see here are made up out of whole cloth. When I started needlepointing 30+ years ago, a teacher would draw or describe what she recommended, and off I went. Seriously. When I started my blog, an industry friend told me stitch names were crucial. I searched high and low for proper stitch names. What I found was stitches with no names or, even worse, identical stitches with two+ names from different sources. On top of that, some of my favorite stitches had generic names, such as Rug 1 and Rug 2. I quickly learned to focus on the diagrams, which are prettier. A stitch by any other name is still just as interesting!
There are some commonly understood stitch names, such as basketweave, continental, Scotch (3X3 and above squares), Mosaic (2X2 squares), Smyrna Crosses, and Hungarian (groups of diagonal stitches over 2-3-2 rows). It feels like it ends there. When naming stitches for my blog and books, I make every attempt to integrate generally accepted names, but also feel that a legible diagram is more important.
I’ve also learned that there is a very good chance that a stitch pattern that I come up with may not be new. But it is new to me. I spent almost an entire afternoon at a stitching friend’s home, poring through binders of stitches she gathered over decades. Not only were many of them drawn by hand (whoa!), I discovered stitches I thought were created decades later, with a different name, in a different presentation, from a different source. So, a stitch doesn’t belong to a single person or teacher. They are all part of a huge and decades-old network of really creative people.
Today’s stitch diagram, along with all other #whimsicalwednesday and #smallspacesunday stitch diagrams, can also be found on a Pinterest board here. Be sure to follow whimsicalstitch.com on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.
More from whimsicalstitch.com
If you like what you see on this blog, there's more. Mary’s Whimsical Stitches is a series of four books offering contemporary how-to collections of more than 200 stitches (in each volume) for all stitchers, regardless of skill level. All books include updated and sequenced diagrams from this blog, plus a collection of all-new stitches from private lessons and other class projects. Visit here to find a needlepoint retailer that carries my books.
New to needlepoint or looking for a refresher? Please download a handy how-to guide covering basic needlepoint stitches and stitch compensation techniques, along with new top-line information on needlepoint materials and tools, how to handle threads, and other helpful needlepoint resources.