Originally posted 2009-02-25 07:45:37. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Time to get started on the cats. I want to have some consistency in this stash project, so I’m using the same thread for the border. and narrow dividing line between the rows of cats. A second thread will be used throughout for the background.
Borders & Dividing Lines
I’m using dark brown Paternayan Persian Wool from my stash, but Silk & Ivory or Vineyard Silk would also be nice. A very dark brown overdye, such as Gloriana’s Lorikeet, could also work.
You should stitch the inside border and the horizontal lines dividing the rows of cats before beginning to stitch the cats. Because the canvas is printed by computer, this will make sure you have the lines perfectly straight.
The inside border is stitched in Reverse Diagonal Gobelin over three threads. Find the lines which are most commonly the border and begin to stitch there. In general, the printing should not vary more than a thread or so.
You don’t have to stitch all of the borders right yet, Just stitch the top and start the sides of the inner border. This will be enough to stitch the first row of cats.
The lines between the rows of cats are stitched in Ruffle StitchThis stitch is a line of Alternating Oblique Gobelins. It only goes over one thread & creates a nice rhythm. Here I think it looks a little bit like a ruffle.
The Cats
With the cats, I’m trying to use different, and mostly matte threads, and lots of different stitches. I’m going to try to make each cat different, but I may not always succeed. Stitch diagrams are found following the description of each cat.
The first cat is stitched with scattered Smyrna Crosses using Rainbow Linen. These are stitched first. The background is Diagonal Mosaic, which compensates easily around the crosses.
The second cat has Woven Cross accents stitched in Pebbly Perle. Remember when making this stitch to tuck the fourth side under the first to get the woven effect. Around them the background is stitched in Trellis Cross Variation using two strands of JL Walsh silk/wool. The diagonal Trellis was stitched first and the Upright Crosses in the centers were them added.
The single lines in this cat are stitched in Contunental using Petite Frosty Rays. The three line pale pink areas between them are stitched in Reverse Diagonal Gobelin, the same stitch as used in the border, using Silk & Ivory.
One final note about the background. It’s important to have some consistency in a needlepoint piece. This piece will get it from the uniform borders and from using the same thread throughout the background, all stitched in Tent & Reverse Tent.
Follow the entire series and stitch along!
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These are so sweet! I adore my cat so I think I may stitch these in his honour!
Thank you so much for providing them!
where can I purchase the canvas for Scrap bag cats? This is so cute
The canvas comes from Patt and Lee Designs. Their website is http://www.pattandleedesigns.com.
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