Woodstock for Christmas Background

I like to work my backgrounds first when I stitch a canvas. My Woodstock Christmas Logo piece needs to have some background worked before anything else anyway since there is going to be a lot of compensation necessary. Working a row across the middle of the design will help me make sure I don't make a mistake trying to work the background around the guitar and the dove.

I wanted a stitch that runs vertically since that will echo the way the guitar lays.  I like to choose background stitches that resemble a main part of my design whenever possible.  I really liked this stitch that Mary Legallet described on her Whimsical Stitch blog.
http://www.whimsicalstitch.com/whimsicalwednesdays/2018/07/25

But there's a problem.  If you look at the diagram you'll see there are many stitch intersections that are not covered in thread.  I wanted to use a dark Christmas green on my background instead of the olive green that it is painted.  I can't have any empty spots of olive green showing through.  So I had to modify the stitch somehow.  This is what I came up with.



The first row in the diagram (black stitches) I stitched with two plies of a dark green Splendor silk floss.  The second row I used the same Splendor for the long stitches (red in the diagram) but used a similar shade of green in Kreinik size 16 braid for the short stitches (blue).  That adds a touch of sparkle to this piece, which is a Christmas ornament, after all.  It will have to stand out among many other ornaments and Christmas tree lights.

This is how it looks.  Now I want to finish the background and then decide what to do next.  Of course anyone else stitching this can finish the background last if they wish, but I think it's smart to at least have one row established that you can work from as you stitch the top and bottom areas above and below the row.



By the way, I'm listing all my blog stitching articles about Woodstock Christmas on the Chilly Hollow Stitch Guide blog as they are published.  You can go there by clicking on the photo of the flying carpet in the right hand column.  Then look for Woodstock Christmas Blog Stitching among the tabs.  Want to return back here?  Click on the flying carpet again.

I'll see you flower children back here next week.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 7, 2019 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.