Olympus sashiko No. 12: colorful daisies

Symmetry galore!!

See how no stitches pass through the center of the daisy?  Negative space at the intersection?

While in progress, before pressing


After pressing with the Elna Press

After stitching the Olympus Dragonfly kit, I started searching for more sashiko to stitch.

Purl Soho had a blog post from 2009 of this pillow and I had to have it!!  But they did not have the design in  stock.   Finally I found this seller on etsy (TaDaa) that came with the colors but with two changes.

I  substituted Olympus sashiko thread hot orange #22 for the light pink that came with the kit as I felt it was more striking that way.  

I also stitched it the way it is shown on the Purl website and not the TaDaa way.

So how do you stitch it the Purl way?  Use the 6 fold symmetry of the daisy as a starting point, see below for step-by-step pictures. (There is a LOT of symmetry going on with this pattern for you symmetry lovers).

I ordered the kit on Dec 29 and it was delivered on Dec 31.  Perfect!  I started stitching that night and a week later I finished it.


The start:  it's a preprinted pattern.

Red

Red and yellow (like a "flat helix", for lack of a better description.  Alpha helices are 3D (right or left handed) but because of the negative space in the center of each flower (2D helix), you don't know which strand is crossing over the other so...it's without a hand...thus I'm calling it a "flat helix".)

Red, yellow, turquoise (so you're stitching the turquoise on the diagonal)

red, yellow, turquoise, purple  (the purple and turquoise "flat helix" are on the diagonal--can  you see it?)

Red, yellow, turquoise, purple, green.  (so the green is half the helix on the diagonal that slopes upward from left to right)

Red, yellow, turquoise, purple, green, hot orange (the hot orange completes the third flat helix)

Red, yellow, turquoise, purple, green, hot orange with border!!
Done and Elna Pressed!!

Relaxing, meditative, no fitting involved, sense of accomplishment!!

One of my friends said it's pretty but what do you do with it?

Olympus recommends a tea towel or pillow.  I'll probably make it into a pillow.  For now it's draped over a pillow, in a place where I can see it every day.  It makes me happy to see it.   But it's not just about making the sashiko into something else, it's also about the joy of stitching it.   The stitches are not perfect and that's something for me to work on but hey I just started and I want to enjoy it!

I also really enjoy that there's no fitting involved.

Did I mention, no fitting?

No fitting.

Be well!