Friday I was looking for something in my den and found “Lucy.” I had not forgotten about her…hard to do since she is at my feet all the time…but her needlepoint had just gotten put aside …out of site out of mind. All that was left to stitch was Lucy’s fur…so this weekend I stitched lots of Lucy.
I am one of those people who like to do “Long & Short” stitch. Some stitchers are put-off by the term “Long and Short” Stitch, others go into stitching shock at the mere mention of this stitch…the only thing worse would be to tell these stitchers to use Marlitt. I learned very quickly to avoid the L&S words whenever possible, instead I prefer “Random Stitching or Directional Stitching.” These terms do not seem to strike terror in the eyes of stitchers; their eyes do not glaze over and sometimes you can even get them to try the stitch before they realize that this might be the dreaded L&S.
I also think that Random Stitching is one of those stitches you have to be in the mood to stitch. If you are up tight (been there) or tired (been there too), you may not be open to the creative free spirit needed to stitch Random Stitch freely.
One of the best books in my library about creative free stitching is Robert Cates’ book: Creative Needlepoint. I bought this book many years ago at an ANG Bookstore but I have seen it on Amazon at different times. I loved the way he stitched his designs freely and experimented with threads, textures and stitches. He bent the rules and colored outside the lines!
So this week I am going to blog about Random Stitching. I’ll show you my method of stitching, how I decide where to begin and I’ll also show you some of the different pieces I have stitched.
ttfn…sue
sudukc's needleart & other musings 