Trees on Tulle: The Cat Topiary Garden Grows

Two Spruce Trees

After the tulle was laid over my canvas and basted into position, I decided to start stitching with the two big spruce trees that are on either side of the topiary bushes.  In the photo above, the left spruce is stitched and the right spruce is half finished.  These big trees dominate the layer of background that is in front of the background we stitched first (and covered with tulle so it wouldn't take over the world!) but behind the topiary bushes.

I decided on a stitch called Double Stitch which I found in SharonG's SENSE book, page 28.  Double Stitch is just rows of tall, skinny cross stitches that are three threads high and one wide, with regular cross stitches between each big one.  Make sure you always put the same slanted leg on top.  I work my / leg first and then put the \ stitches on top, but it doesn't matter which you do as long as you are consistent.

Double Stitch

In the diagram you see mostly the big cross stitches. This is because I didn't work the tiny cross stitches in the empty spaces.  I only did step one of this stitch.  I may come back later and put in the tiny cross stitches using a thin metallic or I may use beads here or I may do nothing at all.  I won't decide until I have more bushes stitched and can see what they all look like together.

On the tree on the left side, Double Cross (step one only) is stitched as a light coverage stitch with one ply of my dark spruce green Au Ver a Soie #1826.  Pick a silk or cotton floss that is very close to the darkest green on this tree and the empty spaces that we haven't stitched will let the lighter paint shading at the top show.

For the tree on the right side, I did my Double Cross (step one only) in light coverage stitching with one ply of the lighter Soie Crystale 8092.  Pick a silk or cotton floss that is very close to the lightest shade in this tree and the darker shades painted toward the bottom will show through the skipped threads and shade this tree for you.

The next bushes we will do are the two tall cedars on either side of the fish topiary bush.  I will use the same thread that I used on the right hand cedar (Soie Crystale 8092) on these two bushes but will use two different stitches.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com