PLOS Week 5 sampler 1 finished

Time is certainly flying in this course - it's week 5 (of 6) already! This week's lesson is about shape and direction......so my first sampler is an attempt to use various stitches to define shapes. I tried some conventional shapes (hearts, stars, circles etc) and then tried a rather unconventional one - the Chinese character "ai" meaning love. The sampler is stitched on Chinese linen (about 30 count) and is 5.5 x 7" (as usual!).

Here's the embroidery key:


1: Chinese character for love embroidered in closely worked herringbone stitch with backstitch around the outside in Colour Streams Ophir Silk
2: Two rows Antwerp edging in DMC Pearl 8
3: One row Beaded Single Knotted Buttonhole in 2 strands Gumnut Stars silk floss
4: Two rows running stitch in Silken Pearl laced with Caron Rachelette
5: Colonial knots in 1 strand Silk 'n Colors
6: Outside ring is Crested Chain Stitch in DMC Pearl 8, inside ring is chain stitch in Silken Pearl
7: Asymmetrical Cretan Stitch in Silken Pearl
8: Outside of star is Coral Stitch in Colour Streams Ephir (is that the correct name? It is the thick silk thread from CS), center is circular bead attached with woven stitches in Silken Pearl. The idea of this was not to see the bead, it was to use the bead to raise the stitches from the fabric.
9: Pistil stitch in Pearl 12
10: Blanket stitch in Silken Pearl
11: Outline is Palestrina Stitch in 1 strand Silk 'n Colors, inside is Four Legged Knot Stitch, also in 1 strand Silk 'n Colors.
12: Diminishing Pekinese with backstitch in Silk 'n Colors, lacing in DMC Pearl 8
13: Spanish Feather Stitch in 1 strand Silk 'n Colors
14: Quill stitch in 2 strands Gumnut Stars silk floss (it is hard to make Quill Stitch go around a sharp corner!)
15: Asymmetrical Cretan Stitch in 1 strand Silk 'n Colors
16: Coolie Feather Stitch (don't like that name either!) in Danish Flower Thread.

OK, well that is all for this sampler. Now I am going to play around with something more free-form to see if I can stitch some good trees! It's a surly afternoon here in Beijing with some weather forecasts predicting snow and others just predicting continued surliness! Let's see, snow would be nice, it's been so cold lately..............