Towel in Celtic Backstitch

The other three hand-towels I bought to embroider had an inset Aida panel. I decided to try one of these as a 'grab and go' project for a recent trip to Canberra. I took a pattern from the book Celtic Backstitch by Helen Hall. I chose a pattern that could be repeated across the towel. 2 repeats (3 motifs altogether) were an almost perfect fit.

I settled on Perle 8 Dinky Dyes thread in variegated pink,made a copy of the motif and put these into a drawstring bag along with a couple of needles an my travel scissors - and set off.

It took me a bit to get back into the swing of counted thread work. After a couple of false starts I decided to use double running instead of Backstitch. That way I can advance the pattern more quickly, getting it mapped out before coming back to fill in the second row.

 

This was an improvement. Even so, when I had finished the motifs it looked a bit insipid,

so I whipped the running stitch with a variegated blue Dinky Dyes Perle 8.

This has achieved the effect I was after - a textured pattern in blended colours. These are slightly larger than the other hand towels I have recently embroidered and a good thickness. 

Poinsettia Hand Towels

In between the big projects from my Scottish Embroidery tour I continued to work on some of the towelling hand towels I had in my stash. 

The second pair I settled on was another with a printed pattern - this time featuring poinsettias and not, fortunately, cross-stitch.

The instructions specified satin stitch but I decided to use an open fly stitch. This gave me good coverage and allowed more precise laying of the thread than satin stitch would give me.

I needed to go back over the leaves to fill gaps but I was very pleased with the results.

It was simple, bright and effective.

Bird hand towels

A couple of years ago I bought a supply of hand towels to embroider. I was looking for usable hand towels - terry towelling for absorbency and big enough to hang on a small towel rail without falling off.

I found a couple of pair about 15"x30" with a panel devoid of loops and printed for embroidery
as well as some that had in Aida panel inserted. The other day I needed a grab-and-go project so grabbed one of the towel pairs printed with a cross-stitched bird. 

It came with thread so all I had to do was follow the chart.

This proved to be less than satisfactory. Cross-stitching on to the cotton panel didn't give good coverage. Accuracy wasn't easy. I didn't much like the result.

So for the second towel in the pair, I used the shape, but not the crosses. Instead, I tried chain stitch for the bird - a much better result.

I completed the bird and greenery in chain stitch and the flower in buttonhole stitch.

This was so much better that I then over stitched the cross-stitched bird with chain stitch - an altogether better result.   I now have a pair of usable hand towels!