Brag Page

Victoria Sampler Group Projects

Here are the instructions for the group projects we have done on the Fans of Thea Dueck and the Victoria Sampler Bulletin Board.

Lilac Needleroll

Antique Lace

Lilac Needleroll

This project was lead by Jen F. She has great instructions. Please read through all the instructions before starting as there are some changes in some of the printed directions. If you still need some assistance, please post a note on the bulletin board. We are there to help!!

Well, if you thought Lilac Needleroll was prettier than the pic on the web, wait till you see it stitched!!!! Its just...well...yummy! The colors are so good together and those little beads that look almost Pewter like just make it breathtaking! Bravo Thea! It all blends together beautifully!! I love it! I finished it all but the ribbon. Thought I would do that with everyone. It stitches up pretty quick so it will be a lot of fun.

DAY ONE: STEP ONE! I think the Bargello and rhodes hearts make a good start. Its a pretty big chunk out of the way. Its pretty quick though and a fun one! I started at the bottom of the bargello, left hand side and worked my way up. I did miscount once and have to go back and frog! So, count carefully! I went up one too many threads. Follow the Diagram A .

For the Rhodes Heart I counted down from the middle points in the bargello to number 1 and went at it! The Rhodes Hearts are one of my favorite stitches so it was fun! I love the way they pop out at you!

Beads: I put them on as I went, the choice is yours!

Question: While I’m waiting for my chart to come, I was getting the rest of the stuff together. How much trebizond & what color do you need?

One spool of each (595 and white) is PLENTY. I would use whatever white leftovers you may have from SW or GR. It doesnt take too much. And for the 595 you don't need more than one spool. I have lots left over.

STEP TWO: FOUR SIDED STITCH I worked mine from right to left. This is a quick and simple stitch so it should go fast.

STEP THREE: PULLED WAVE STITCH TRELLIS This is broken up into three groups. First the top row from right to left. Then the bottom row which I also did from Right to Left. Then the middle row. It looks really good when you get it done! I have not done my Silk Ribbon yet, saving it for last and want to do it with everyone. I do want to do the vine but wanted to know what everyones ideas were for tracing the vine? What do you plan to do?

If you want to reweave your threads for the hemstitching feel free! That's what we will be doing tomorrow.

We are on Band 4, why don't we at least do the 5 satin stitches on each side and cut out the 4 horizontal threads. Then we can move on to the Hemstitching tomorrow. Id love to hear everyone hints or suggestions on tracing the template onto band 3, as I still have yet to do this!

Question: Has anyone else noticed that there is a color switch in the bargello pattern? The instructions have the single stitch being #5 perle 211 and the next row in #5 perle 927. However, in the pictures these two colors are reversed! Sooooooo, did you stitch per instructions or as in the pics?? I stitched it per instructions but *may* rip it out and reverse it because I like the contrast better. Who knows at this point, though!

STEP FOUR You should be on Band 4, your horizontal threads should be clipped and removed. Hemstitch both the top and the bottom with #12 928. Then thread your ribbon through over and under every two groups of threads. I secured my ribbon in the back with 928 floss.

STEP FIVE: Smyrna Crosses! I Love them, another one of my favorite stitches! Should go pretty quickly, use your #5 Perle or White Trebizond.

STEP SIX: Cross stitch variation. >Diagram H explains it all. Very simple. I do cross my stitches as I go when using Waterlilies, as Thea suggested.

STEP SEVEN I did my cross stitches first using #12 928. Then I moved on to the eyelets using the same #12. Then I did the Satin stitches in the Fir Waterlilies. Last but not least I added the beads!

Yeah!!! time for my favorite part, the hardanger!! If you have never done it before or just need help please ask! First do your Kloster Blocks. You have three colors to do, White, the Periwinkle and the teal. I started with the white and worked my way down. Next step will be to cut and remove your appropriate threads. If you are new at hardanger and are not sure which threads to cut, refer to diagram J, or ask for help. Wouldn't want you to chop the wrong threads! Next step is to wrap bars and do your Doves Eyes using #12 928. Next add your beads and Wha-La! YOUR DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unless of course you saved your silk ribbon till last!

Question: I’m getting ready to sew up my needleroll and have a question.

Have any of you studied the picture and seen the row of hemstitching between the four-sided edging and the ribbon ties?? I looked at the diagram, where it tells you what threads to withdraw from where and I don’t think it matches the picture. It seemes to me that there should be 24 threads between the design and the space created by removing 4 threads, 24 threads and another 4 threads removed THEN another 24 threads BEFORE the four sided edging stitch that finishes off the ends.

That way there is a place for the hemstitching shown in the picture, plus a place to weave the ribbon ties. What do you think?

I saw that too. I think there is supposed to be another section and it was left off the finishing Layout diagram. I would just add another section. I plan to finish my needleroll tha same as all the SB needlerolls. I withdrew a space for the ribbon, and then folded the edge and hemstitched it. Exactly like a SB roll. I wasn't too keen on doing that 4 sided edging. I am going to sew mine up tonight!!! Cant wait to stuff it! Found a green fabric like in the picture and am making a sausage out of it! cant wait to see it all done!

I was reading some of the older posts on the board to find the tips on the needleroll and found these 2 messages about differences between the instructions and the picture -

Bargello pattern - perle 211 and 927 are reversed. Finishing diagram doesn’t show the hemstitching row between the ribbon ties and the 4-sided edging.

Are those the only ones? I think I read through all the messages about the roll, and I printed out Delfi’s list of subsitutions for a peach/mauve roll. I’m putting these with the instructions so when I stitch the roll I have them handy.

Yes, those were the only two discrepencies in the chart. It really is a whiz to stitch, directions are very clear on the chart and its a lot of fun! Also if using the Trebizond you use that in place of the 211 and the white.

Antique Lace
The leader of this group project is Leah. If you need supplies, please contact Elegant Stitch. Hi all - hope you’ve got all your stuff ready! If you like to baste a line down the fabric so you know where to start stitching each band, definitely do the left side, one band starts from the right, so even if you don’t normally mark the right side, baste at least halfway down on the right (I think it’s 24 stitches from left to right margins, I DONT have the pattern in front of me right now so don’t take my word for it - double check the chart!)

I found a few other places where the Sandstone can be substituted for the pearle cotton - I’ll let you know which rows and whether I switched or not (and why - so you can decide for yourself).

Oh by the way, I posted a message in the XS Pals board about ripping out and re-doing the carnation band - don’t let it scare you! It IS an easy band to stitch (all cross stitch and a little backstitching, no fancy stitches) but when hubby is talking and it’s nearly midnight - I wasn’t paying enough attention to the chart, I stitched the same row twice and ended up with a lopsided carnation!

Leah

Hi all - I tried to post this in the morning but couldn’t get into the board. So - here’s bands 1-3 (if you basted margins, I’m going to assume that the basted lines are the left edge of the top row of stars in row 1).

Band 1
The star stitch is a smyrna cross in disguise! The star is a + then a X which is the reverse of a smyrna cross. The first row of stars is the metallic braid, because of the thickness, I found it was easy to miss seeing a thread and ended up over 9 threads vertically instead of the 8. So take a little extra care and be sure you’re only going over 8 threads vertically. Also, pull the vertical stitch a little snugger than usual, otherwise the diagonal stitch will cause the vertical to roll to the side. Don’t pull enough to make it a pulled stitch, just a tiny bit more than your usual tension. The horizontal arms on the stars should "touch hands" And, one more thing, the metallic tends to twist so lay the metallic down first, hold it with your finger until the needle is all the way through.

For the second row of stars, the directions have the pearle cotton and that’s how I stitched it first. A few days later I looked again, and decided to try the Sandstone, so I pulled out the pearle cotton and put in the stars with Sandstone. The stars have a "softer’ look and there’s a slight variation in the colors. So consider which way you want your stars - the pearle has a slight shine to it and the Sandstone has a softer, slight color variation. As far as stitching them, the horizontal arms should touch the bottom tips of the metallic stars and the diagonal arms touch the diagonal tips of the metallic stars. They fit together very nicely!

Band 2
The only tricky part was keeping the 3 strands untwisted. What I did was to lay out the floss, threaded one end and pulled that end through, keeping a finger on the floss. I made 2 or 3 straight stitches in the edge of the fabric to hold the end. I’ll catch it in the buttonhole edging. Then unthreaded the needle, and re-threaded it with the other end and pulled that through and did the same thing with putting the end in the margin. The pink straight stitches I used the loop method to start it and tied off the end in the margin (busy margins, but they’ll wait until the buttonhole border is in.) For the beads, I wanted the beads to be straight up & down, so I stitched them on with a full cross stitch - first did the / (bottom to top threading through the bead) then did the \ (bottom to top again going through the bead).

Band 3
This band looks tricky, but it’s not, follow Thea’s stitch diagram and pull TIGHT to get the little holes to show up nicely. Also, the chart shows just one square (2 threads) between bands 2 and 3, I moved the band one more square (4 threads) down - I think the spacing looked better that way. Also, even though is pearle cotton 8, I didn’t use the Sandstone, I like my pulled stitches to match the fabric, the Sandstone would’ve been too much variation for me. If you want to change threads, try it and let us know how it looks!

Band 4
This is just XS and a little backstitching. If you usually wait ’til the end to backstitch, I think for this design, you may want to the backstitch when you finish the cross-stitching for the band - that way you don’t have to come back to it (IMHO of course) The way I stitched it was the way Thea had in the instructions - go down 16 stitches (32 threads) from band 3, then stitch the row of XS across (it’s not a solid row of stitches - watch the chart). Then run the thread under the stitches in the back and come up in the middle of the row to do the 3 stitches at the base of the flower. Don’t panic about the offset stitching - all that means is that instead of lining up the three stitches to the row of the stitches underneath, move to the right ONE thread - if you normally start a XS next to vertical thread, you’ll be doing the 3 stitches then the whole flower next to a horizontal thread.

After you stitch the 3 XS at the base of the flower, then use diagram E to stitch the flower - use the 3 XS as a reference to stay in line not the row the stitches. Since you’re using the Mountain Meadows, also look at what color you have in the needle - if you don’t want the flower to be the reen/beige/yellow color, be sure that you don’t have that part of the thread - that was my mistake, (or one of them anyway) and I redid part of the flower to get a different color.

The backstitching is with the DMC floss, I thought about using the green part of the silk thread instead, but didn’t (because I didn’t have a long enough cut piece of green silk).

Band 5
This row is simply a row of smyrna crosses - I used the Sandstone and have a nice variation of color - the pearle cotton will have more a shine than the Sandstone will, so it up’s to you which way you go. The smyrna is a X then a + which the opposite of the star stitch in band 1 - follow Thea’s diagram and you’ll be fine!

Band 6
The lazy daisy crosses are nice! To be sure that the left one lines up correctly, I counted down 5 THREADS from the bottom of the smyrna crosses, and in 4 THREADS from the left margin (I’m starting the left margin even with the rows above this) Then I came up for the start of the first lazy daisy. You want to pull the stitch enough so it’s not floppy, but not so tight that it looks like a thick straight line, if you pull slowly, you’ll see exactly when you get the look you want and stop pulling. Then make big crosses over the lazy daisy’s.

Band 7
I used the pearle on this one - I like my pulled thread to match the fabric, the Sandstone is certainly an option here too. Pull the cording (the two rows of satin stitch) TIGHT to get the look Thea has on the picture. Be sure to leave the 6 threads in between for the "bricks" When I stitched the bricks, I pulled tight on the vertical stitches and pulled the horizontal stitches snug against the fabric. The brick stitch may "look" complicated on the diagram, but just take is slow, follow the numbers, and very quickly you’ll get into the rhythm of the stitch.

Band 8
Do the backstitching first even if you usually wait ’til the end. That way you can the backstitch as a "place-holder" for the rest of the design - it does make it easier. I used colonial knots instead of french knots just because my colonial knots are more even than my french knots! When you do the satin stitch heart, a little railroading will help keep the threads untwisted for a nice smooth line.

Band 9
Watch the chart carefully on the words - some of the diagonal stitches aren’t half-cross-stitches. For the 4-sided stitch, pull TIGHT. If you’re not familiar with the stitch, follow Thea’s diagram and try this - turn the fabric sideways so the #1 stitch is on top, then remember 2 things: (1) on the back, you always make a diagonal and (2) -T-he -L-ittle -R-ed -B-alloon -L-ittle -R-ed -B-alloon -L-ittle -R-ed -B-alloon. etc etc (-T-op -L-eft -R-ight -B-otton -L-eft -R-ight..... see? Ok, it’s corny but it helps to do the stitch in order!)

Band 10
Just cross-stitches with 2 things to watch out for, the left-most and right-most stitch of the band is one more than all of the other bands (26 across, the other bands were 24 across) And the center "medallion" the bottom-most stitch is off-set one stitch (remember band 4).

Band 11
Next, hardanger heart and buttonhole edging! There’s a lot to the band, but don’t worry - we’ll do it one step at a time! Hi all - this band has a lot of steps to it, but just take it one at a time and it’s no problem!

Stitch the Kloster blocks - these are just satin stitches arranged in blocks. The small blocks are five stitches each and go over 4 threads. The two long blocks at the top of the heart have 13 stitches. Be sure to count how many blocks you need, I started making the blocks for the side of the heart and just kept stitching. Then I realized I was almost out of fabric!!! I had to rip out 5 extra blocks. LOL The pattern has this done in perle 8, I used the Sandstone instead, I liked the softer look and the color variations. The perle has a nice shine and a tone-on-tone look that’s more traditional for Hardanger. Your choice! This design is actually the first Hardanger I’ve done where I didn’t match the perle to the fabric.
Stitch the buttonhole border. I did this in Sandstone too instead of the perle. I had originally planned to do only this in Sandstone, it sort of expanded as I stitched.... Be careful just to cover 4 threads with the buttonhole, I found it was very easy to end up over 5 threads or to miss a thread and leave a gap between stitches, it’s easy enough to rip out if you notice it after a few stitches. To turn the corners (around the heart) follow carefully the chart as far as where to bring up the needle, you’ll be making 4 -5 buttonholes that share a starting hole and turn the corner, after you do the first one or two, it’ll be a piece of cake! What I did so I could go on to the next steps even before finishing the border, was to start the buttonholes at the top of band 10, left side, went down around the kloster blocks, then back up to just past band 10. That way I could finish all the heart-work at home without interruption then work on the buttonhole border easily at lunchtime at work.
Algerian eyes in the metallic thread- these go between the Kloster blocks and the button holes; also between two rows of Kloster blocks. If you’re not familiar with the stitch, there isn’t a diagram, but using Diagram F (the smyrna cross) follow this - Bring the needle up at #4, go down in the *center* of the stitch, PULL TIGHT come up at #1, go down in the *center*, PULL TIGHT come up at #3, go down in the *center*, PULL TIGHT come up at #2, and guess what? go down in the center, PULL TIGHT come up at the next arrow on the diagram, and go down, pull, and up again at the arrow and so on around the circle. And that’s the algerian eye, by pulling tight after each stitch you get a nice hole in the center of the stitch. (Do NOT use this sequence if you want an smyrna cross - use the diagram as shown for a smyrna cross).
Between the long kloster blocks and the heart shape, backstitch and lazy daisy the flower stem, then use the silk to french knot or colonial knot the flowers. Be sure the colors of the silk is what you want for the flowers, I used the yellowy-pink section.
Now, you cut! If you haven’t done this before, calm down, if you cut exactly where the chart shows you to, the stitching will NOT fall apart. You want to cut inside the heart shape next to the kloster block edges. BUT BUT BUT be very careful that you cut the threads where the needle came up/down - the *ends* of the satin stitches you do NOT cut the long side of the satin stitch. The satin stitch ends hold the fabric threads together.
After you cut, use a needle and gently pull out all of the cut threads, you’ll end up with spaces, some intersections of woven fabric, and some long strands of fabric in groups of 4.
Needleweaving is just over two under two, on the long strands of fabric. Use a LONG piece of pearle 12 - you don’t want to run out in the middle of a bar, there’s no place to tie off! I found it easier to do the dove’s eye if the needle comes UP in the middle of the 4 strands. For the needleweaving, have the needle in the space next to the four strands of fabric, go under two, come up between the 2nd and 3rd strands, go around and down the other 2 strands and come up again, go around and down the other 2, etc etc etc. When you do the dove’s eye, see diagram L. You want to the dove’s eye when you’re doing the 4th side of the square (the other sides will either be all kloster blocks or some klosters/some needleweaved). When you get about 1/2 way done weaving that fourth side, come up in the middle (like normal) then instead of going back down and around, go down in the middle of the ADJACENT side of the square, come up in the open space of the square, go down in the middle of ADJACENT side, and so on around the square, When you get back to the fourth side, continue the needleweaving. When you go down in a Kloster block, go down between the 2nd/3rd satin stitches, one or two threads in, you don’t necessarily want to go down in the exact center of the kloster block (if you like the way it looks, go for it!)
Put beads in the intersections.
If you have to, go back and finish the buttonhole border and any backstitching in band 4 or 8 that you left for later.
If you’re using this as a bookmark, then cut CAREFULLY around the buttonhole border.

YOU'RE DONE! It's beautiful isn’t it!