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Sunday, November 20, 2011

Breaking Up Repetitive Stitching

“Unity” is one of the basic principles of design. One way to achieve unity in a needlework design, particularly in a geometric design, is through the use of repetition.

Unfortunately for stitchers, repetition sometimes gets a bit, well, repetitive. Tedious. Boring. In my last post about Ruskin Garden Square, I mentioned that I have several of the smaller padded buttonhole squares to stitch. By the time I got halfway through the third such box, I decided I needed to break up the box stitching with other areas of the piece.

Fortunately, not all of the boxes will be used for cutwork. Two boxes in each corner provide a little space for a miniature “garden”. I decided to put these decorative stitches in along the way. Here’s the first corner after my mini gardens are in.

RGScorner 20Nov2011

After getting those in, I was ready to get the boxes started on the next corner.

So, what do you do when the design you’re working on calls for several of the same design element? Do you push through and get them all done, or do you have a tendency to break up the stitching with other elements?

3 comments:

Rachel said...

Break them up. I've tried doing them all together and I just end up depressed and stop work...

Wendy TC said...

I agree with Rachel. I used to try slogging thru, but that isn't what I think stitching is supposed to be about...tedius piecework. So now, I break up the work into "manageable" periods, depending on size. I'm currently doing a piece with 2 motifs on each of the four sides and I do one side a day then reward myself with stitching a more fun area for a while.

Sara Leigh said...

I break them up, mostly because after a certain point, I start to make mistakes, thinking that I know what I'm doing without referring to the pattern periodically. But also to keep my interest going.