BACK TO Ottoman Tulip Class (Design and chart by by Lois Caron) MATERIALS 8x8" canvas, 18 mesh or an 18-count evenweave fabric one skein each of the following threads: Snow, N-03, Sky Blue. Use a single strand Snow, N-04, Night Sky. Use a single strand for needlepoint, 2 strands for bargello. Watercolours, 163, Plum. Separate the plies and use one ply in your needle. Watercolours, 137, Copper. Use one ply for needlepoint Watercolours, 085, Antique Brass (or 123, Spice). Use one ply for needlepoint Soie Cristale, 7123, Turquoise. Use 4 plies for needlepoint. Soie Cristale, 3041, Tomato Red. Use 4 plies for needlepoint, 6 plies for bargello. Impressions, 3041, Tomato Red. Use 2 strands for bargello. Tapestry needles, sizes 20 and 22 Permanent fine-line marker if you are tracing design onto canvas. Optional: acrylic paint in a shade of red IMPORTANT TIPS: please read carefully before beginning Note 1: depending on your choices for background, the number of colors can be reduced. Snow (N-04) and Impressions (3041) were used only in the background. Soie Cristale (3041) is used for a small portion of the tulip and in some of the background. Plum Watercolours or turquoise Soie Cristale can be substituted in the flower for the red. If you are stitching on a colored evenweave fabric, you may wish to eliminate all or some of the background stitches. Note 2: I've provided both a line drawing of the motif, as well as a chart, for the benefit of needlepointers who are accustomed to working on handpainted canvas or for anyone who wants to modify the design. Note 3: If you are working on canvas and plan to stitch the bargello background, you may want to paint the background with a light wash of red (use acrylic or other permanent paints) to avoid a white shadow from the canvas showing through where the upright stitches meet. Note 4: If you plan to use the bargello background, you may find it easier to place the stitches if you do the background first and the tulip motif last. Click here for chart Click here for line drawing STITCHING Everything except the background was done in plain needlepoint. Stitch outlines of the flower petals first with Sky Blue Snow, then fill with basketweave (Plum Watercolours for the shading and 7123 Soie Cristale for the rest.) The outline and middle of the stems and leaves are done with Copper Watercolours, the filling with Antique Brass Watercolours. Continental stitch may be used instead of basketweave, but bear in mind that the distribution of variegated colors will be horizontal rather than diagonal and the changes from one color to another will be more apparent. The design may be cross stitched, but different threads will need to be selected if the thread count of the ground fabric and the design size are to remain the same. The background was stitched with the following bargello pattern. All stitches are over six threads with a step of three. The dark blue rows are charted. Adjacent rows follow the same pattern and were worked with red Soie Cristale and red Impressions in a random sequence. Click here for diagram OTHER OPTIONS This design can be stitched on other sizes of canvas or fabric and other colors and threads can be used. If you're working from the chart, the design size will be determined by the thread count of your fabric. If you're tracing the design onto canvas, use a photocopier to enlarge or reduce the outline to the size you need. Refer to our Thread Usage Chart for suggestions on which threads are suitable for the fabric or canvas you have in mind.