19th Dec 2013
It's always a joy to start working on a new series of designs for Cross Stitch Gold and this one in the present issue, 108, was an absolutely delight. I enjoy taking close - up photographs of flowers that I see while on walks with Webs and also in my garden. I will often use these as reference for my paintings before charting the designs. Large scale flowers like these always, in my opinion, look really striking on a cushion. I have created many pieces like these over the years for cross stitch and needlepoint - and indeed this design would be totally suitable for this. Simple use 10 count needlepoint canvas and tapestry wools in similar shades and fill in the background with white wool or a colour of your choice. See 'Ideas for You' for more examples.
I focused in on just one of the flower clusters for this design. Rhododendrons are big and showy, but I wanted to include lots of detail, so I had to go quite close. I loved using lots of sumptuous shades of purple, then by adding a few leafy greens at the bottom - they help to balance the effect of the large blooms.
Enjoy, Lx
Posted by Lesley Teare in category Blog on Thursday, 19th December 2013
