cross stitch, JJ Crafts, SAL

Cross Stitch SAL

JJ Crafts

I have – kind of – a finish to show you!

I’ve done all the cross stitching that I’d planned to do. So without further ado here it is: WP_20170616_18_28_27_Pro

I have two questions now. 1) shall I fill in the words with white stitching to cover up the rather holey looking fabric or leave it as is? It makes everything else look raised a bit not having it but not sure if it would look better with. I’m leaning towards not stitching it.

2) shall I do back stitching around the individual leaves? I think some of them kind of blend into each other so it might be good? I’ve given it a little go and I’m not sure I like it. Some bits look good and others look bad. But maybe if it was the whole thing it might look better? Or should I just leave it without any back stitching?!? Ahhh.

Photo 21-06-2017, 15 15 25

In other news, the fabric for the next project arrived. It’s this lovely Christmas red 18 count aida. It will mainly be stitched in white but with either gold or a variegated thread of a similar colour. I’ve never used a variegated thread before so that might be interesting.

WP_20170622_15_50_50_Pro

I haven’t actually finished the design yet though so we’ll see when I get around to it. I might end up stitching my next Hogwarts house pin cushion first. It’s Gryffindor’s turn next (although I haven’t finished designing that yet either….)

The other people taking part in the stitch along are below:

Avis / Claire / Gun / Carole / Kate / Lucyanne / Sue / Constanze / Debbie / Christina / Kathy / Margaret / Cindy / Helen / Steph / Linda / Catherine / Wendy / Mary Margaret and Timothy

We post progress on whatever cross stitch protects we’ve been working on every three weeks. So its a lovely selection of different things to look at.

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45 thoughts on “Cross Stitch SAL”

  1. this is gorgeous Jess!
    mmm thinking about your questions. I like the wording as it it – not stitch. Makes it like “Assisi” cross stitch (I think that’s the style).
    As for backstitch – have you tried simply using a dark shade of greens/browns/red to outline leaves rather than using black?

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  2. Congratulations! A finish! It looks great. I’d probably stitch the words in, but I have just stitched a piece where no canvas was allowed to show, so I might not be the best person to give advice on that. And I actually like it without outlining – I like the way they blend together!

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  3. Pingback: Cross Stitch SAL | cclapton

  4. btw Jess, re your next project with variagated – just remember to complete one stitch at a time (not doing rows of half stitches then coming back on yourself) in order to have the full effect of the variagated.

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  6. Looking great as it is, I think 🙂 Maybe I´d do backstitching on the front leaf and some of the green leaves and no more. And I agree with Claire, maybe use another color than black!

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    1. Eeek. Cos back stitching isn’t difficult enough! Haha. I’ll try different colours though. I’m just being lazy :p

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  10. I would try some back stitching in a brown…DMC 838 shows up in a lot of my patterns when only one color is used. It seems to define yet blend. As for the lettering, I would fill it in, but possible with a satin stitch at an angle?

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    1. Thanks for the tip. Won’t be doing anything more complicated than cross stitching. My poor brain won’t handle satin stitch and I have no idea how to write that on across stitch pattern either lol

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  11. I love it! I don’t like the back stitching in black, personally, but maybe if you want to have the definition that back stitching provides you could try other colors. I can’t remember which I book I saw it in (maybe the New Cross Stitcher’s Bible?) but I remember reading about this and seeing the difference it can make to use something other than black for an outline. You could use, for example, a darker shade of each color and outline its corresponding leaf.

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      1. Ooops. I’m a lazy comment writer. I didn’t read comments carefully, just skimmed and went right to my reaction, which was “I like it!” Now that you’ve drawn my attention to the comments, the brown idea seems interesting enough to try, too.

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  12. Okay, without reading anyone else’s comments, here’s my take on your design: Maybe backstitch in black around the letters but outline the leaves in a solid color found in the leaf rather than black. Black on the leaves is too stark a contrast. I think they would benefit from outlining, just not so obviously. You might even consider outlining the letters with a green instead of black too. I do love the way you’ve used color in the leaves. 🙂

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    1. I never thought of back stitching the letters in a different colour to the rest. That’s a very interesting idea.

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  13. Having now read the other comments (from people who actually do cross stitch!) I think a lovely dark brown might be the answer for outlining. I think if you outline the letters you wouldn’t need to fill them in.

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  14. My own take is that it doesn’t need any bs but if you do want it go for a brown which will define the outline without looking too stark. Also if it were mind I would fill in the words but that is only to my taste and others may think differently. Congratulations on getting to the “almost” end.

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    1. Hehe thanks. If it doesn’t need it I’d rather not do it. I’m just worried the leaves blend into each other a bit too much in some places.

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  17. I am someone with very limited cross stitching experience.
    This turned out lovely.
    My preference would be to leave the letters without stitching. I like the dimension it gives the piece.
    I agree with other posts that outlining some leaves in other colors might look good.
    You have such an artist’s eye…whatever you choose to do will look good.
    I love the idea of just red and white for Christmas.
    It got me thinking of just a red and white quilt design.
    Thanks!

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  18. I like the Assisi look, with the letters remaining unstitched. It gives some texture.
    I agree with others that the black backstitching may be too stark but it would look good in more subtle colours. I think that the leaves at the side especially, might look nice with some backstitching but if you decide against, it looks fine as it is.
    Congrats on the finish and I look forward to seeing your next project 🙂

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