I always enjoy visiting and teaching at Bedecked and Beadazzled. The customers are a blast, Ruth is a great hostess, Johnny, and I always come home with new stitches (and stitched samples) to share with you! Win, win!

Today’s stitch is from Ruth’s gorgeous guide* for Patio Table by Annie O’Brien Gonzales (distributed through Melissa Shirley Designs). It uses Petite Silk Lame (aqua lines) and Princess Perle (black lines). (* I say gorgeous because I saw the student’s exquisite work in progress.)

This stitch will work with so many thread combos. More often than not, I use strong single strand threads such as Kreinik Metallics, Vineyard Silk, or Elegance as the base thread (aqua lines). I use these because they are heavy enough to be visible in the areas between two beetles. And, similar to Ruth’s version, I cover it with another single strand thread, often a metallic.

Ruth used this stitch for a tabletop and I love how it complements the original canvas design in that area. Extending the tabletop idea, it would also make a gorgeous tile floor with silk perle, such as Elegance, and Straw Silk (!) on top for a rough-ish looking floor or even a silk floss for a smoother floor. I would love to see it as a coat with a heavy Kreinik (such as size 16 or even the 1/8” ribbon) for the base thread and Very Velvet for the beetles. Consider alternating the top threads by color or finish in every other column for the coat as well.

This stitch diagram, along with all other #whimsicalwednesday and #smallspacesunday stitch diagrams, can also be found on a Pinterest board here.

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If you like what you see on this blog, want to learn some very creative decorative stitches, and how to put them all together, whimsicalstitch.com sells Stitch Guides and Stitch Concepts for Melissa Shirley Designs, Zecca Designs, Sandra Gilmore, Purple Palm, Maggie, and Patience Brewster, and many more. Click here to see the newest guides and click here to see the entire collection.

I hope you have the perfect spot for this stitch!  Please enjoy!  

A Note about Diagrams
I use color in diagrams to make them as clear as possible.  The primary function of different colored lines is to illustrate a stitch sequence.  For example, layering of colors demonstrates you add them in that order.  They can also provide ideas on how to integrate additional threads (one line for each color).  Or, you can use the same thread for all color lines.  That's where I encourage you to use your imagination for the space you are stitching!