The first photo shows the backs of the small pieces I did during the first few days of the month. You might remember that the very first samples were the three leaves on the far left which were a go at each of the three outlining stitches. The top one was done with a combination of running and back stitch, the second in holbein, or double running stitch producing a reversible effect, and the third one was back stitch.
Moving onto the flower design. I worked the outline in holbein stitch, then trialled both methods of filling by doing the petals working all the stitches in one direction at once, and the leaves by working adjacent stitches together without regard for direction. The effects on the back are quite different, aren't they?
This next sample is shown here quite a lot 'larger than life' as the real thing is less than a 2 inch/5cm square! This was also worked one row/direction at a time for the black parts, with the gold being added one diamond at a time.
That's as far as I've got over the last week, but I've learned quite a bit so far.
What about you?
Text and images © Elizabeth Braun 2014