I promised part two of the Red Cardinal Story yesterday so here we go!
If you have taken classes with me you have probably heard me say that I don’t really care what order you execute a stitch in. We all see stitches differently. Some people have trouble with stitching on the diagonal. Some people stitch only in nice straight rows. We are all different. Yes, I number most of my diagrams as to how I stitch them or how most people would stitch them, but…..
When I designed the stitchguide for the Red Cardinals by Ewe and Eye, I selected a fun patterned stitch for the snow that I had originally seen on WhimsicalStitch.com.
It’s cute; it’s lacy. It’s snow-like. I executed it my way as a laid filling. I put in all the horizontal rows first and then grabbed them with the vertical stitches.
Mary of WhimsicalStitch.com saw it entirely differently. She would stitch the vertical stitches first and then weave under with the horizontal stitches.
Hmmm, choices. Neither is right or wrong. They are personal choices. I decided to experiment. The bottom two hills under the baby cardinal are stitched my way as a Laid Filling (left side of diagram above). The top hill is stitched Mary’s way, weaving the horizontal thread (right side of diagram above).
If you look closely at the stitches in the photo you will notice a slight difference. On one the horizontal stitches make softer curves and on the other they are more angular. OK, subtle, not game changing but interesting.
The Laid Filling variation requires a little more attention to be paid as to where your needle goes for the vertical stitches.
The Woven variation requires attention that you don’t snag your vertical stitches when weaving.
Tradeoffs. The choice is yours. Stitch how you prefer. Just be consistent in your stitch path. At the end of the day that’s all that really matters. And always have fun!
The red cardinals are a super fun stitch. If you would like them to fly off to you, here’s the link.
xo
ruth
Leave a Reply