"For Amber Waves of Grain..."

I have to say that I love all my Impressionist Collection designs, because they are each so colorful and unique. Every one is a favorite. But... AMBER WAVES really is one of my all-time favorite designs.


The inspiration for this piece comes from the line in the song, AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL: "Oh, beautiful, for spacious skies; for amber waves of grain..." and I worked very hard to choose patterns that echoed those waving fields of grain. (Although, I have had some stitchers tell me they thought the title referred to golden ocean waves - which could also work!) I deliberately used wavy border lines in the design (instead of hard 90-degree angles) to soften the design and suggest organic movement of waving wheatfields. (Although, I confess that counting out and stitching those tent-stitched meandering lines were tedious - but well worth the effect when they were done!)

Anyway, one of the reasons I like this pattern is because I found so many of the patterns really fun to stitch. I loved the simple zig zag rows that suggest fields of grain. And the box pattern is another fun one to stitch (hmmm, I guess they could represent little cereal boxes!) The square patterns also remind me of flying over the country and looking down on all the fascinating patterns of farmland you can see from the sky.


And then the ungulating wavy rows are so simple and easy to stitch...it's especially fun to watch the sequence of variegated colors appear in the rows. (The variegated threads I used were Watercolours and Wildflowers 036 "Tobacco" a satisfyingly surprising colorway of gold, raspberry and sage.) Between the fat rows, there are smaller rows stitched in metallics that add a subtle shimmer of copper and gold.


And I LOVED creating this really great wheat pattern in the lower half of the design. The gold bugle beads were added last, to create extra dimension and the added illusion of a waving wheatfield.

Notice that the same wheat pattern is stitched in two different thread weights - a fine thread in the center area, and a thicker thread in the border area. It's one of my most favorite stitching techniques, because it's actually very simple to execute, and yet it creates so much dimension, richness, and complexity to the overall look and feel of the piece.

Springtime Kimono

I was just printing out some kimono patterns for a customer's order and realized that I haven't really looked at them in a while. Although I don't ordinarily do "oriental" designs, I really enjoyed creating my series of kimonos, and for a while was eagerly stitching them up, one after the other.

I discovered the kimono shape is absolutely wonderful for showcasing composite stitch patterns.(NOTE: Composite stitch patterns are made from combining different stitches to create a new, more complex stitch pattern.) Here's a detail photo of the above kimono. Look at the simple flower pattern of the robe, and the block pattern of the sleeve. Notice the one "flower" I stitched in metallic on the robe, and then did more of them along the bottom edge of the kimono. The fun part for me was thinking up new composite patterns that would replicate the look of richly textured kimono fabric.

In the kimono, there are two simple rectangle shapes (the sleeve block and the robe block) that can be filled with complex stitch patterns; then there is the lining area that I fill with a simple tent or basketweave stitch (a good calm area for your eye to rest); and finally,there is the silk lapel area that can be stitched with a simple diagonal satin stitch, but using any fancy, shiny, metallic thread of your choice. And once I had the kimono stitched and floating on the canvas, I had to think of some way to anchor the kimono to the background (and I didn't want to fill the whole background with stitches). So I thought up suitable "oriental" motifs to use in the background. This pattern has parasols stitched in the back of the kimono; I have used a variety of other things in the backgrounds of my other kimonos.

Now let's talk about the variegated threads I used....Because I initially stitched all my kimonos on 24 ct. Congress Cloth, I was able to use much finer threads. In this design I used a fine, single-ply cotton (such as Bravo!, Encore, or Wildflowers). You can also easily substitute 2-3 plies of a variegated cotton or silk, and the design still looks elegant!


What's wonderful about these kimono designs, is that you can easily change the color palette to reflect your own preference. To conclude, I'll show you the same SPRINGTIME KIMONO in another, darker palette. (I enjoyed this design so much, I stitched it up TWICE, just to see how different it would look in darker spring colors.) That's the joy of using variegated threads: you never quite know how the finished piece will look until you get it all done...it's that "surprise" element that has me totally hooked on using variegated threads every chance I get!