Advent Calendar 2018 – No. 23

And now the grand finale.
Music playing angels – sixteen in all – decorate this gorgeous tea cloth. The angel opposite is always a twin. This means that there are eight different musical instruments and eight different hairstyles, however there are sixteen different dresses. This very special wreath was designed and embroidered by Christa Waldmann.

The cloth has a diameter of about 70 cm, and the linen is handwoven with a 14–17/cm thread count.

Golden metallic threads, used for the wings, the stars, and the wreath outline, add a sparkle of colour. The edge was secured with Blanket stitch half-eyelet scallops and then trimmed.
The clouds are filled with Limet pattern Rose stitches (Basic Principles of Schwalm Whitework and Lesson #2).

Please note the layout of the different musical instruments and that many of the dresses get different hem decorations.
The first dress is filled with Honeycomb Darning stitches, and the sleeves with single Satin stitch bars.

The second dress is filled with Satin stitches worked in a stair-step manner. The sleeves were worked with Four-Sided stitches.

The third dress is filled with Rose stitch Limet pattern, but here the single sections of the Rose stitches were not worked on the straight of grain, but on the bias. The sleeves were worked with single Satin stitch bars.

The fourth dress, including the sleeves, received a Cross stitch pattern.

The fifth dress was embroidered with a combination of single Satin stitch and Rose stitches (similar to pattern 469 or pattern 480, but the Satin stitch grid is filled with one Rose stitch per square. The sleeves are filled with single Faggot stitches.

The sixth dress is filled with Satin stitches worked in a stair-step manner, too. The sleeves are filled with single Satin stitch bars.

The seventh dress was embroidered with Wave stitches and single Satin stitch bars.

The eighth dress is filled with single Satin stitch bars – vertically in the skirt and horizontally in the sleeves.

The ninth dress is filled with Cross stitches.

The tenth dress is filled with a combination of Satin stitches and parts of square eyelets. The sleeves are filled with Wave stitches.

The eleventh dress is filled with Four-Sided stitches and single Satin stitch bars.

The twelfth dress is filled with Rose stitches in straight, staggered rows. The sleeves are filled with Four-Sided stitches.

The thirteenth dress is filled with a combination of Satin stitches and Cross stitches.

The fourteenth dress was embroidered with Rose stitches; the sleeves were stitched with Four-Sided stitches.

The fifteenth dress is also filled with Satin stitch bars. Interesting here is the hem decoration with curved lines (Schwalm Curved Lines, Narrow Borders, and Ornamental Stitches).

The sixteenth dress is filled with alternating rows of single Satin stitch bars and Cross stitches.

I hope you enjoyed marching with the band once around the wreath.

This unique wreath was especially designed for me and is also included in the pattern collection Advent Calendar 2018.

Also included in the pattern collection are two more figures with other instruments that my graphic designer created. These angels can be used not only for establishing a wreath but also as single figures. One idea is to make vintage-looking ornaments for trimming the tree.

Maybe Advent Calendar 2018 could be t h e last minute Christmas gift for you!