Marching Ants

Here was the first ant I made.  I was using YLI Perle Crown Rayon which looks to be about a 8wt thread.  I was following Sue Spargo's stitch plan and she uses 6 rows of bullion knots.  I did not quite like the look so I removed the last three rows.

I made three ants.  The first vertical bullion knot is a three wrap a scant 1/4 inch.  The next 2 bullions are 4 wrap to cover a 1/4 inch.  I then did 2 horizontal 4 wrap knots followed by 2 scant 1/4 inch 3 wrap vertical bullions.  I finished them with 2 pistol stitches for the antenna and some straight stitches for the legs.    The ants are on my Round the Garden Quiltmania quilt.

I think I will add some wooly bear caterpillars.  Maybe I will do some Turkey work to make them fuzzy.  Hmmm,

Knotted Cable Chain Stitch

The orange blossom in the center is attached with a Knotted Double Chain Stitch.  I have a couple of books that explain the stitch but I did not get it so I did a browser search and found Sara's Tutorial.

I understood her clear photos.  The stitch is actually  a combination stitch which is made by alternating a coral stitch with a chain stitch.  When I go the hang of it you can see that it is a coral, a chain, a coral, a chain, and so on.  I did not space my stitching well.  I began with a coral and I ended with a coral so at the top of the blossom I have 2 coral stitches together.  OOPs.  Lesson learned.  I will so better next time and watch the space so I end up every other one correctly.