A decision and first stitches
After much contemplation and gathering of many opinions, I decided to stay with my original three arch design. I really like it, so I will just fiddle with it to make it work. Since the fabric is a fairly fine linen canvas (25 count), I think I can still get the more heavily patterned, intricate border work in there without running out of room. At least that's the plan.
I did run into one difficulty last night that I hadn't thought of. I've drawn on this sort of canvas before to do a reproduction of a 16th century canvaswork embroidery, but that was a floral motif and didn't have straight lines. I wanted a border around my work for this class, so I drew the rectangle using a template. Unfortunately, the material pulled a bit, so my line wasn't completely straight. I used backstitch to work it and just manipulated it a bit, so while it's not completely straight it does a good job of mimicking the slightly uneven fell of a stone wall. I guess the important part is that I am not unhappy with it; I like the look of it, and I *have stitches down*! So...
I think for the heaviest outline on the "closest" archway, I am going to use a new stitch (new to me) that we got in the class handout this week. It is called Portuguese Stem Stitch, and it's a bit knobbly looking, and I really like it. I'm going to look at a couple of other outline stitches before I make my final decision on which I like best, though. I want one that is going to give me the heaviness I need for this line and still give me the exotic, attractive feel that you see in Moroccan architecture.
I am also going to try out some of the stitch patterning from this article. It's really pretty, and it has a bit of that mosaic tile feel to it. I also want to use Jacobean couching which I found in Sue Hawkins' book Crewel Embroidery. It has a small but very nice dictionary of stitches at the back along with some really gorgeous patterns. Finally, I want to explore some of the ideas in this article on pattern making with cross stitch. I think this should give me the look I'm going for. I guess I'll find out...