I’m excited to share a festive twist to this “Courtly Checks” project. This project was initially featured in the July/August 2021 issue of Needlepoint Now — this time around, we used a holiday colour palette to really bring out the seasonal vibe of the pattern.
Courtly Checks includes a series of three ornaments, each measuring about 3 inches square on an 18-count canvas designed by Kam Wenzloff using a selection of my Colour Complements threads (in this case, it’s a very festive holiday colour palette).
The thread kit is available in the shop.
I know many of you will be familiar with Kam’s painted canvases and of course, she designed my What a Hoot series of owls. Early on in our discussions when planning the What a Hoot series, Kam sent me a photo of a larger pattern she had designed with Colour Complements threads. The design featured black and white checks which we both love and with further discussion Kam designed the three patterns for Courtly Checks.
Using this Holiday Colour Palette for Other Projects
Today, I’d like to share a Christmas palette for Merry & Bright, one of the three ornaments pictured above. I have stitched this sample using a selection of red and green to celebrate the holiday season.
To make things even more festive, I’m featuring a Christmas Sampler in the shop, which includes all the colors used in the “Merry & Bright” sample—and more! You should be able to stitch two of the three Courtly Checks designs and will likely have sufficient threads to stitch part of the third ornament SO it is good value AND offered ON SALE.
If you don’t feel like stitching one of the Courtly Checks designs, this holiday colour palette can be easily adapted for any smaller needlework project. Perhaps a painted canvas celebrating the season? Remember you should be able to stitch two smaller 3-inch ornaments OR a larger 5-inch canvas.
I always like experimenting with different colour palettes using published designs.
