I came across this design whilst browsing. I don’t think it’s especially new, but I think it is gorgeous, with a really innovative use of different canvaswork stitches for texture, and wonderfully vivid depth of colour. I beieve the designer is Rose Swalwell of Derwentwater Designs, who (if I’m correct) studied at the Royal School of Needlework.
Red Poppy Canvas Work Kit by Derwentwater Designs
At only £13.50 for a complete kit it’s an absolute bargain, and a wonderful way to get started with more creative needlepoint. (You can buy online here & probably lots of other places, too!)
It hasn’t taken me quite as long as it might seem to complete stitching this piece – lack of time aside, I have also been battling with an ailing scanner/printer. Bless it’s little cotton socks, I managed to sweet-talk it into working for long enough to scan in my updated Oak Leaf Panel (but it is still being temperamental). Anyway…:
Oak Leaf Panel (c) TangleCrafts, 2008
My original plan was to stitch a decorative border around the outer edge. However, I decided that as there was already quite a lot of movement in both the motif and the background that might make it all look a little too busy. So I opted for simplicity, instead, and I think this plain border provides a good contrast to the myriad curves contained within it.
(I do like the oak leaf border (not shown), though, and may include the chart within the kit as an optional extra, to be added or not at the discretion of the stitcher. It could also be stitched as a bookmark, which I may do myself at some point.)
The sense of undulation in the freeform bargello background reminds me of fabrics from the 60 and 70s; but I think the heightened sense of movement is also a result of using overdyed threads with tonal changes along their length, but without dramatic tonal difference between the three different threads used. I normally make my bargello choices in a more pronounced light-to-dark colour scheme, but I like the slightly different effect my alternative choice has created.
The intention is that this will be the first of a series, exploring the different patterns created by different shaped leaves (etc).
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