One May Night - Mid Band

I've looked forward to reaching this point on One May Night since it gives me a good picture of how all of the bands work together. I wanted the whole piece to have a feel of lacy florals and I believe this image accomplishes that as it ties both halves together.

I'm afraid that I did find an error in the charts on this band, I'd love to blame it on the software but I'm sure it is operator error :) Since the rest of the piece repeats the first bands that have already been stitched, I'm hopeful this is the end of corrections!

The blue box shows the area that needs correction, and if you look down to the same part of the image as the section repeats under the number 2, you'll see it too needs to be corrected.

And this is the corrected area, again with the blue box highlighting the two squares that need to be added as this pattern repeats across the band.

No matter how I've tried to check each chart before I stitch it, I just can't 'see' the problem till I actually stitch it. Sorry for any inconvenience!

Next post I hope to share more sources for design ideas.

One May Night - Roses & Lace (and a Chart Correction)

Bands 4&5, lace ribbon and roses are completed.

I chose the 4th band image to serve as a bit of a contrast to the two florals that border it. Since the next main band is definitely softer and more flowing, I wanted something just a bit more formal for this band.

While the charts show a softer pink for the rose band, I stitched the model with a darker Gloriana floss. It simply worked best for the dark gray fabric and it reminds me of a favorite deeply fragrant David Austin rose called William Shakespeare. Appropriate for this design that was inspired by Romeo & Juliet :)

I found a small error while working band four, please note the correction below, the stitch beginning the bottom and top of band. If it isn't clear what has changed let me know.

Incorrect

Correct

One May Night - First Hydrangea Band

First band of Hydrangeas completed and being completely potty about hydrangeas I'm enjoying seeing these go from software to stitched.

As it would in a garden, parts of the flower spill over the garden fence and this is the first motif that I've used the software to place one image over another and I think it has worked really well.

One May Night - Band 2

A bit of a rollicking motif, I chose this one to give this May night some sparkle. As soft and sweet as a May night can be, it also has exhilarating effects, like young love.

One May Night - First Band

I'm very happy with this first band. It has the movement that I find so pleasing in a band sampler.

I wanted something that would bring a garden's architectural ironwork to mind and found this image in an old Edwardian era filet crochet book printed in 1912. It was a book that itself took older motifs and as it says in its title, represented them in a new way, and now I'm representing it in yet another new way :)

While the book is rather difficult to find, thankfully, it is among the free scans of old needlework books online at the Antique Pattern Library

Go down the page to BrownFiletCrochet.pdf
The New Filet Crochet Book: Original Designs Which May Be Used Also For Cross-Stitch and Beadwork, With Patterns Represented in a New Way by Hugo W. Kirchmaier. Toledo, Ohio, Cora Kirchmaier, printed 1912

Sanctuary - First Pic of Work In Progress

What a thrill! To find this beautiful photo in my email this morning. Dianne Frayne from Calgary, Alberta Canada shared a photo of how she is interpreting Sanctuary. She is using a 32 count linen in "French Lace", with the centre a DMC 356, and the border is DMC 502 and 503 She is stitching two threads over two squares.

Thank you, Dianne! I can't wait to see this finished and I hope others will send me their WIP pics and then photos of their finishes for a gallery.

One May Night - Border

My goal for the overall effect of One May Night is to be lushly romantic, so the bands will predominantly be softer and flowing. But I want to contrast that with something more geometric and 'harder', but not too hard.

I chose a 'Greek Key' design for the border since, to my mind, it meets that criteria of hard but still flowing. Did you know that the name used for such a symbol is a 'Meander'?

From an article about the "Greek Key" design on Wikipedia

"In art and architecture, a meander or meandros is a decorative border constructed from a continuous line, shaped into a repeated motif. Such a design is also called the Greek fret or Greek key design, although these are modern designations. On the one hand, the name "meander" recalls the twisting and turning path of the Maeander River in Asia Minor,..."

After composing One May Night I sat looking at the border thinking, that might be a stinker to stitch~ but I'm happy to report that it really has gone very quickly and is surprisingly easy to follow, thankfully!