Compensating your needlepoint is hard enough when the area has straight even sides, but what happens when the area is irregular, the way this one is?
I just punt and place my first stitch somewhere in the middle. If I’m luck it works just fine. But most of the time I’m not lucky and end up with tons of compensating to do. If the area is small enough and there is enough compensation, the viewer loses all sense of the stitch. The result is, for me, frustration and abandoned projects.
Joni Stevenson, the wonderful teacher, has figured out how to deal with this problem in an outstanding blog post.
Starting with this shape and a compound stitch she shows you step-by-step why some planning will place the stitch inside the area better, will minimize compensation, and create a lovely stitched area.
Great advice!
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