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The embroidery on the tea cloth is nearly complete. The “sunflowers” ​​were given a border of 2-short-2-long stitches and—just like the small circles—varied fillings. The details can be seen in the following images.
The hem was secured with a simple hemstitch, its simplicity contrasting with the elaborate embroidery. Then, the required number of working hours was determined and recorded on the cloth with a few stitches.

The cloth was soaked in clear water overnight to soften the blue printing ink. (Printed lines are often easier to wash out of hand-woven linen than out of industrially manufactured linen, but the blue traces are clearly visible on the wet fabric.)

With solid curd soap—I used to use liquid soap often—

I thoroughly lathered the embroidery on both sides. The cloth was then left to sit for another two nights.

Then it was placed in a large pot containing water and heavy-duty laundry detergent. The liquid was brought to a boil, and the fabric was boiled in it for approximately 5 minutes while being constantly agitated.

After that, the blue color had completely disappeared—without much effort and without scrubbing!

The tablecloth was rinsed, dried, and ironed. The embroidery appears in all its beauty.

It was possible to embroider nearly 50 patterns on a relatively small cloth. However, the linen used was very fine, with 20 threads per centimeter.

The design, with its many small areas, is therefore particularly well-suited for working in the style of Early Schwalm Whitework, which does not require thread withdrawal.

Mitteldecke MJ2 (2)
Mitteldecke MJ2 (3)
Mitteldecke MJ2 (4)
Mitteldecke MJ2 (5)

The design of the table cloth features twelve tulips in two different styles. Four of them are arranged diagonally to the grain of the fabric, while the others are positioned at an angle and mirror-image to one another. All the tulip motifs are relatively small-scale. Consequently, finding suitable, varied patterns to fill the areas proved to be a challenging task.

For all tulips positioned diagonally to the grain of the fabric, the double outline at the tip was embellished with thick French knots. The patterns on the side petals were worked as mirror images of one another. Since the areas are small and narrow, a simple 2:1 thread-withdrawal was used throughout.
For Tulip 1, wave stitches were worked from the back. The center remains free.

For Tulip 2, honeycomb darning stitches were embroidered as a pattern on the side petals. The center features a 3:1 Limet grid and diagonal cross stitches.

For Tulip 3, honeycomb darning stitches were also embroidered as a pattern on the side petals—this time worked from the back. The center features a 3:1 Limetgrid and a cross stitch patterning.

For Tulip 4, a wave stitrch pattern was embroidered onto the side petals. The center featured an openwork 2:2 thread withdrawing and a new pattern.

The slanting arranged tulips were finished at their tips with a row of blanket stitches. The areas beneath were subsequently filled with French knots.
The outer petals were outlined with interlaced chain stitches. All drawn-thread sections were worked as 3:1 Limet grids.

Tulip 5 was worked with filling pattern 554 in the center. The side petals were embroidered using the “Narrow Pearl pattern” (Wickelstiche, page 43).

The center of Tulip 6 was worked with a filling pattern consisting of a rose-stitch grid interspersed with double back stitches; Openwork Pattern Samplers, pp. 48–52). The side petals were embroidered using the “Narrow Honeycomb pattern” (Wickelstiche, p. 87).

Tulip 7 features the “double diagonal cross stitch” (Openwork Pattern Samplers, pp. 42–44) as a pattern to fill the center area. The side petals were embroidered with rows of wave stitches placed between bars of satin stitches.

Tulip 8 was filled with filling pattern 569 in the center. The side petals were embroidered using the “One pattern” (Wickelstiche, page 15).

The next blog post shows the remaining design elements and the final result.

See also
Schwalm Tulip Motifs through the Ages (1)
Schwalm Tulip Motifs through the Ages (2)
Schwalm Tulip Motifs through the Ages (3)
Tulip Motifs

The design of the tea cloth contains a heart motif that appears a total of 8 times, four times along the straight of grain and four times diagonally to the grain. Both versions have double outlines,

surrounded by blanket stitch half eyelets.

The areas of all the heart motifs were decorated with openwork patterns.

The edge of heart 1 was embroidered with wave stitches/zigzag stitches.

Pattern 147 (Openwork Needleweaving Patterns, page 77) was used as filling pattern.

The edge of heart 2 was filled with thick chain stitches.

Pattern 54 (Openwork Needleweaving Patterns, page 30) was worked as filling pattern. The small heart above was given a 2:1 thread-withdrawal pattern and the openwork cable stitch pattern.

The edge of heart 3 was filled with wide chain stitches.
Pattern 129 (Openwork Needleweaving Patterns, page 68) was worked as filling pattern.

The edge of heart 4 was filled with interlaced straight stitches.
Pattern 56 (Openwork Needleweaving Patterns, page 31) was used as filling pattern.
The small heart above did not involve any thread withdrawal; it was decorated with chain stitches.

The edge of heart 5 was filled with small blanket stitch half eyelets.
Pattern 146 (Openwork Needleweaving Patterns, page 76) was worked as filling pattern.

The edge of heart 6 was filled with blanket stitches.
Pattern 87 (Openwork Needleweaving Patterns, page 47) was used as filling pattern. The small heart above did not have any threads withdrawn; instead, it received only a row of blanket stitches along the coral knot stitches.

The edge of heart 7 was filled with feather stitches.
Pattern 124 (Openwork Needleweaving Patterns, page 65) was used as filling pattern.

The edge of heart 8 was filled with lazy daisy stitches.
Pattern 88 (Openwork Needleweaving Patterns, page 47) was used as filling pattern. The small heart above did not feature any thread withdrawal; instead, it was worked with just a row of chain stitches running alongside the coral knot stitches

The next blog post focuses on the design of the tulips.

See also:
Table Cloth for all Seasons – February: Hearts

The design of the tea cloth features a bird motif that appears a total of eight times.

These birds could all be decorated in the same way, but they also lend themselves to experimenting with different stitches.

The shape of the wings lends itself well to stitching diagonal filling patterns.
In doing so, I came up with yet another new pattern using diagonally arranged blanket stitches.

In this process, two rows are placed facing each other.

If the stitches passing underneath are worked beneath the same square, the loops lie closer together than if the stitches are passed beneath two adjacent squares.

In my first course on learning Schwalm whitework, which I took more than 40 years ago, I learned to decorate “bird bellies” with the *Schlängchen*—interlaced herringbone stitches. These are easy to stitch and can be readily adapted to the curve, even by beginners.

The wing was embroidered with a Limet pattern consisting of alternating rows of rose stitches and stepped satin stitches, each over a single grid square.

A similar effect to that of the herringbone “curved lines” can also be achieved using interlaced straight stitches known as “Kerrercher.” These can be found on pages 6–14 of my publication Schwalm Curved Lines, Narrow Borders, and Ornamental Stitches. (Wings/“Plumage” – Limetrosen I, page 15.)

Depending on how closely spaced or how slanted the straight stitches are, the serpentine lines appear quite different. (Wings: double rows of cable stitches, worked alternately from the front and back:)

The bird’s belly can also be decorated with filling patterns, though the patterns must be very small. Here, a simple openwork pattern was stitched using a horizontal 2:1 thread-withdrawal technique. Honeycomb Darniung stitches were worked from the back.

Instead of filling patterns or curved lines, you can also stitch decorative stitches along the wing on the bird’s belly.

Blanket stitch eyelets are an alternative,

Knife-points are another variation. (Wings: French stitch—half-stitch with a gap; Openwork Pattern Samplers, pp. 35–37.)

2short-2long is also suitable for this type of design (wings: alternating rows of diagonal cross stitches and cable stitches).

as well as eyelash stitches. (Wings: a variation of filling pattern 550, but alternating between just one row of rose stitches and one row of base stitches.)

The next blog post focuses on the design of the hearts arranged diagonally to and in the straight of grain of the fabric.

Please see also:
Bird motifs (1)
Bird motifs (2)

The design of the tea cloth features many forks, numerous tendrils, and small circles.

At first, I had thought about creating the branches and tendrils using wrapped chain stitches.

However, due to the many forks, this proved to be very difficult.

So, in the end, I did use coral knots for the branches, tendrils, and a large part of the motif outlines.

Wrapped chain stitches (No. 16 coton à broder) were worked around only a few motifs.

I spent a long time considering how to design the circle-within-a-circle motifs.
At first, I experimented with blanket stitches of varying lengths and a thick French knot or an blanket stitch eyelet.

After washing, these versions also look quite presentable.

But ultimately, I decided on large circles made of wrapped chain stitches with eyelets in the inside.

The next blog post focuses on the design of the bird motifs.

Siehe auch:
Forks – Practice Exercises (2)
Forks – Practice Exercises (3)