Help please

On 7/25/03 3:56 PM,"FKBABB" posted:

What I need help with is:
how do I do curving flowers and leaves while making a pyramid of stitches.

Generally you don't. Basketweave is great, super durable and the least
distorting tent stitch, but most of us use it only for blocks of the same
color, such as backgrounds. For areas of lots of color changes, such as
flowers and leaves, we use the Continental method, which also gives almost as
good coverage, but causes more distortion -- which is not a problem if you're
working with your piece mounted on stretcher bars.

You can basketweave the large blocks, and then do tent stitch in small
areas. You can also lay a stem stitch over the basket weave. Or couch an
outlining thread down, if you want to really show the curves.

I'd suggest that you look at some of the NP references from either the ANG
(American Needlepoint Guild) site, or even TNNA (the trade association).

ANG has some great stitching references, the main site is: www.ang.org

And, do you have a basket NP reference book? Just a how-to might help you.
Since you're doing a seat cushion, basketweaving as much as possible will
make it more durable. Then compensate in the small, curving areas, with tent
stitch. Also, the basketweave will be less distorted when it comes time to
block the piece when it's finished. Are you working on a frame - either
stretcher bars (all 4 sides) - probably the best for keeping distortion to a
minimum - or a scroll frame?

Good luck,
Ellice