Old Rose was stitched from a chart found in Karen's grandmother's vanity stool. Her grandmother had stitched it in wool, but Karen used 1 ply of DMC stranded cotton to stitch on silk gauze. There are 43 greens and 11 whites in the piece. Karen changed the design by turning some of the flowers around to fit the frame. This piece has won many ribbons, including best of show.
The design area is 6 inches by 7 inches (approx 14.5 cm by 17 cm), on 40 count, so the stitch count is about 240 by 280 stitches. Try translating that to say 14 count, and the piece would be 17 by 20 inches! Karen stitched it in 1983, starting in April and had it framed by October.
Karen Duggan from Lynnfield in Massachuesetts is a fellow member of the ANG (American Needlepoint Guild) mailing list.
Photograph copyright Karen Duggan