Autumn Quakers 4: I’ve finished page 4……. but I’ve got another problem

I’ve been stitching some more of ‘Autumn Quakers’ by Rosewood Manor – it’s coming along nicely!

I’ve just finished page 4 of the nine page chart booklet (the lower left hand part):

It’s lovely to do. What I like about it is that, however short a period of time I have to stitch on it, I always feel as if I’m ‘getting somewhere’ with it, because each little motif gets completed quickly. So, instead of thinking, ‘Well, I’ve managed to do a BIT MORE of the background,’ or whatever, with this design I can nearly always complete one motif at one sitting – even if it’s just one tiny leaf. That gives me a good feeling of satisfaction  🙂

I have had one small problem with this latest page of the design, though, which is purely my fault. It’s the ‘diamond’ of concentric lines of colour. The problem is that I started stitching it from the outside in, as it was easier to count from existing stitching to where to begin the outside edge, so I carried on stitching smaller and smaller diamonds…but that meant that I gradually stretched the fabric, as I was leaning on it with my right hand as I stitched, and that caused the centre of the diamond to form a ‘peak’. It’s made worse by the fact that I am experimenting with not using a frame of any kind for this project, so the fabric wasn’t being held taut – if it had been in a frame, this probably wouldn’t have happened. It’s really noticeable if you look at it sideways on:

So, I ironed it, stitched side down, over a pad of towels on my ironing board so that I wouldn’t squish the stitches. I used a lot of steam, and didn’t press down hard, but ‘hovered’ the iron over the diamond, pulling the fabric straighter both vertically and horizontally as I did so. After ironing the back for a while, I carefully hovered the iron over the front as well. It’s not perfect, but it’s a lot better than it was! It looks like this now:

Now on to page six…..

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