After my recent posting about selecting threads based on a choice of Watercolours, my friend Jan Fitzpatrick send me an email about her method of choosing thread colors along with this picture of a glorious Jean Hilton piece, French Perfume (available from Stitches from the Heart).
Here’s her explanation of how she picked the colors
“I open the skein of Watercolors, etc. Tie one end to the tag so I always know what color it is (and dye lot if needed). Then wrap the thread around the tag until the tag is covered. Then I use that covered tag and search my stash to find colors to go with it. The rest is how you describe your process.
“I did two Jean Hilton designs this summer for our home. One started with Watercolors Rain Forest. I knew I wanted to pull out the olive green and rust as the main colors. Using the technique above, I could easily find the correct shade of each. The design used lots of specialty threads, most of which I didn’t have on hand. Off to Regal Rabbit with my covered tag and other threads I had already chosen. It takes time, but so worth the effort.”
The piece was done on vintage canvas, brown on green, to give it an antique feel.
As you can see from the picture above, it turned out great!
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
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