Progression--embroidering the straight lines

Here, I've drawn out the pattern with the soapstone pencil. The ruler came in handy, as did the lid form a spray can I had handy to trace the biggest circle. The inner ones I just did by hand in roughly thirds of the space.







I began the embroidery with the outline, then planned to work all the straight lines and do the circles last so they'd be on the surface. I'm using the perle cotton and the quilting basting needles. The eyes are smaller than the soft sculpture needles, and they're a little shorter, but I'll try the others on another project. This needle is working out fine so far.

I don't know if there is a rhyme or reason to the traditional methods of this embroidery, I was too impatient to start to look up any more detailed instruction. I does help to pay attention to where you go with the pattern, as you can end up cutting thread and moving around too often. I tried to look ahead for the next direction when I started out and it has worked ok so far.



It's kind of like following a maze. Or one of those puzzles where you have to trace every line without running over any twice. I have to admit I ran into a couple of dead ends and had to take out the stitches and re-think my route.








Here, I'm beginning the last of the straight lines, the corners. I should have somehow worked them into the rest of the outer squares or triangles, but, hey, it's my first time! I have two remaining longer straight lines to fit in and then I'll do the circles and be done with this part of the project.