So many stitchers are daunted by a new piece because they don’t know what stitches and threads to use.  The more you stitch, the more you will learn.  The question I’m most asked is “What stitch should I do?”  So, here’s my take on a few of my favorite pieces in the shop.

Let’s start with the pumpkin.  I would use Nobuko and reverse Nobuko for each side of the pumpkin so that the stitches are pointing towards the center.  Compensate the stitch in each section of the pumpkin so that you delineate the different sections.

The big pink flowers would look great in giant Woven Spiders, as would the little yellow flowers.  The sunflowers is the star of the show so I would skip stitch the center with Arctic Rays and use a combination of Diagonal Mosaic and Reverse Diagonal Mosaic, so the stitches are pointing towards the center.  You could do Horizontal Brick stitch for the middle petals.

All the small leaves would look great in Raised Fishbone stitch, which you can find a video on needlenthread.com to see how to do that.

I LOVE this cardinal piece!

I would do a really cool patterned background stitch.  Something from the book Stitches a la Carte would be fabulous.

The table I would stitch in Horizontal Brick stitch over 4 with the ThreadworX overdye.

The star is a bit of a challenge.  I would do something simple like Skip Stitch but with the ThreadworX overyde Kreinik to make it really stand out.

I would lay long stitches with Straw Silk for the basket than weave over and under in the opposite direction to make it really look like a basket.

The cardinal is painted so beautifully.  I would do Reverse Nobuko for the belly and neck and have it randomly fall into the wing.  I would do a number of different Buttonhole stitches for the wing, laying them on top of each other so the wing looks lifelike.

The holly leaves would look great in Satin Stitch with an overydye floss.

The duck would make such a sweet gift for a new baby or be adorable in a kitchen.

I would T-stitch the sky with Silk Lame Braid and tent stitch the stars.  The bowl would look great in Brick Stitch over 4 horizontally with Pepper Pot.

The water should be kept simple in Basketweave or you’ll go crazy trying to compensate around all the swirly lines.

I would stitch the hat in Woven stitch with Straw Silk so that it looks like a straw hat.

For the duck, I would tent stitch the head and let it randomly end in the neck and then do a Ray stitch of some sort.  You can turn the stitch 90 degrees to stitch the tail feather and wing.

Here’s a sweet and simple one.  And the best part about this piece is that it’s self finishing in a box.  I would bead the ladybugs, tent stitch the letters and do Alicia’s Lace with three strands of Soie d’Alger for the background.

This piece cracks me up!  I would tent stitch the letters and clock and do Scotch Stitch for the background so it’s easy to compensate around all the letters.

If you’ve been following the blog for a while, you know I’m a sucker for bunny canvases.  I think this little bunny has the sweetest face. And I love her headdress.  It would be adorable in French and Colonial Knots with Boucle.

I would do Woven stitch for the background with Petite Silk Lame Braid. The bunny would be great in Encroaching Gobelin.

Some of you are probably thinking no way would I stitch this piece because of the black background.  Here’s a tip.  Stitch black in something sparkly and open.  It’s much easier to see. I would keep it simple and just do skip stitch.

The flowers on the piece are quite a challenge. The little purple flowers would be super cute in Gathered Stitch.  The pink flowers I would do long stitches with silk ribbon. The orange flowers I would keep simple and do Alicia’s Lace over 2 with two strands of Silk ‘n Colors and Buttonhole the edge of the flower.

I can’t believe I haven’t stitched this piece yet!