Prepare your fabric by tracing the design. Read the tracing instructions

before you begin! They’re IMPORTANT!!

Color with Prismacolor Premiers colored pencils. You can use any colors you’d like for

this. I used a very limited palette of :

#1080 BEIGE SIENNA #1011 DECO YELLOW

#1005 LIMEPEEL #928 BLUSH PINK #1082 CHOCOLATE (tiny bit)

Blend using artist’s paper blending stumps.

• #1 (left side/top row) is tinted lightly with #928 and shaded with the same pencil.

Blend.

• #2 is shaded lightly with the #1080 pencil in the background areas, tinted #1005 in

leaves, shaded with #928 in flower, and #1011 for flower center. Blend colors

separately.

• #3 square will be fabric so nothing will be done until all stitching is completed.

• #4 “Stitch”… Sharpen your #928 pencil and make vertical lines on the square.

Make horizontal lines on the square. DO NOT BLEND.

• #5 use the same sharpened #928 pencil to make vertical lines in the square. DO

NOT BLEND.

• #6 shade the white stripes very lightly with #1080, and the pink stripes with #928.

Blend each separately.

Every day in February, I’ll post the instructions for stitching the individual squares on my Instagram @meghawkey1 and Facebook @Crabapplehillstudio.

You can share your progress with everybody on Instagram by using the hashtag #crabapplehillstitchalong. Follow #crabapplehillstitchalong and you’ll see

what everybody else is doing too!

If you don’t have an Instagram account it’s really easy to sign up. You don’t have to follow anybody you don’t want to, and you can have a private ac-

count where nobody can see your information or photos. You’d still be able to share with us using the hashtag for the stitch along.

• #7 (left side/2nd row) tint the circles #1011. Make little polka dots on the white

area of the square with the #928 pencil. DO NOT BLEND.

• #8 shade the pink and white stripes as you did in square #6.

• #9 draw a checked design on this square as you did in the “Stitch” square.

• #10 make polka dots as you did in square #7. Do not blend. Tint the green bud

cap with #1005 and blend it.

• #11 sharpen the #928 pencil, and draw randomly placed little circles on the

square. Tint everything that lies OUTSIDE the little circles. Isn’t that SO COOL!!?

Blend the pink area carefully so you don’t pull it into the white dots.

• #12 tint and shade the bottom petal with #928. Blend. Tint the top petals #1011

and blend. Tint the leaves #1005 and blend. NOW! For the FUN part!! Draw

widely spaced vertical lines on the square with the sharpened #928 pencil. Draw

horizontal lines with the same spacing. DO NOT BLEND. Use a sharpened #1080

pencil to draw vertical and horizontal lines about 1/16th” away from the pink

lines. DO NOT BLEND. You just made your own plaid fabric!!

• #13 (left side/third row) the scalloped right side of the square is shaded lightly

with #1080 and the left side of the square is tinted and shaded with #928. Blend

both separately.

• #14 Happy Valentines Day! You are SO loved!! By me...I love you all! This will be

a rough appliqued fabric heart, so nothing will be done until the stitchery is

completed. It’s time for a few of your favorite chocolates isn’t it?

Page 1

February 2019 for International Embroidery Month

• #15 make polka dots on the bottom part of the square as you did on square #12.

• #16 shade the top and bottom “card” areas of the floss bobbin with #1080.

Blend. Tint and shade the floss/center portion with #928. Blend.

• #17 shade the white background area of the square with #1080 and blend. Tint

the leaf with #1005 and blend. Tint the flower center circle with #1011.

• #18 tint the center circle #1011. Tint and shade the background with #928. Blend

separately.

• #19 (left side/fourth row) Sharpen the #928 pencil and make vertical stripes. DO

NOT BLEND.

• #20 shade the flowers VERY lightly with #928 and blend.

• #21 tint the flower center #1011 and blend. Use sharpened #1080 and #928

pencils to make the plaid background. DO NOT BLEND.

• #22 tint the flower’s bud cap #1005 and blend. Use a sharpened #928 pencil to

make the checked background. DO NOT BLEND.

• #23 tint the leaf and bud cap #1005 and blend. Tint the center of the flower

#1011. Tint and shade the flower’s petals with #928 and blend. Shade the bee’s

wings with a tiny bit of #1080 and blend. Tint the bee’s yellow stripes #1011 and

the dark stripes with #1082 or very dark #1080.

• #24 shade the bottom of the square lightly with #1080 and blend. Sharpen your

#928 pencil and make polka dots on the top of the square. DO NOT BLEND.

• #25 (left side fifth row) Tint and shade the background with #928. Blend.

• #26 use the sharpened #928 pencil to make the checkered background. DO NOT

BLEND. Tint the leaves #1005 and the flower #928. Blend both separately.

• #27 tint the center of the ring of dots #1011. Blend. Tint and shade the square’s

background with #928. Blend.

• #28 shade the square’s background with #1080 and blend.

• #29… No, it’s not leap year… we just need this to be a full rectangle! Think of

these as bonus days… Make vertical stripes on the background of the square with

the sharpened #928 pencil. DO NOT BLEND.

• #30 tint and shade the square with #928 and blend.

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Set the Colored Pencils:

• Pin your fabric to the shiny side of a piece of freezer paper. This will protect your

work surface from any fixative that seeps through the fabric (It sometimes carries

a tiny bit of color with it.)

• Use a flat 1/4” wide, soft bristled artist’s paintbrush to brush a very thin coat of

Jacquard Textile Colorless Extender over all colored areas. I know there are other

brands out there, but this is what I’ve used and tested.

• Some colors will sometimes pull into other areas with the brush. Be especially

careful with pink, purple, and black areas. I like to paint over these areas carefully

first, and then, by the time I paint the fixative on areas next to them, they’re a

little bit dried and don’t move around. If you use too much fixative, the color can

seep outside the lines with it. You just need to wet the fabric...not soak it. No

fixative should show up white on the surface.

Removing Colored Pencil Tinting Mistakes….YIKES!!:

• If you make any mistakes in coloring, now is the time to fix them! After they’re

coated with the fixative and heat set it’s too late.

• Remove color by dabbing with removable mounting putty such as Loctite Fun-Tak

(the stuff you use to put posters on a wall temporarily). This works GREAT! If it

stops picking up the color, pull and knead it for a minute.

Blending and Smoothing Colors:

• Use paper blending stumps to blend the colors and smooth them. You can also

use cotton swabs, but they don’t work as well and you use SO many! UGH!

• This can be done as you finish coloring each area or after all are colored. Some

areas will need to be blended before adding any additional surface designs.

• All you need to do is rub the colored areas with a sharp, clean blending stump. Do

one color at a time because the color will transfer from one area to another. I

have several blending stumps of various sizes so my colors don’t accidentally

overlap. You’ll notice that the colors will look more vibrant when you’ve rubbed

them.

• If you need to clean off one of your blending stumps, just file it with an emery

board (nail file). This will clean it and also sharpen or dull the end.

Baste:

• Layer the pressed stitchery fabric with a piece of muslin the same size. Baste them

together close around the edges of the image and through the center of the piece

between each row of squares. You will embroider through both layers.

• Remove the basting threads when you’re done stitching, and press.

Heat Set:

• You will need to heat set all of the treated and dried pencil tinting you’ve done.

Just press the dry stitchery with a hot, dry iron for several seconds.

• After the fixative is added and heat set, the colored pencil will be washable. I

would still use cold water and a gentle detergent just to be on the safe side,

though I have used a stain remover and didn’t have any trouble.

• Remove the freezer paper and hang the fabric up to dry. Dry thoroughly...

(overnight is good!)

• Wash the freezer paper with water and a paper towel. You can re-use it for future

projects.

• Wash your paintbrush well with clear water. NEVER, NEVER scrub a paintbrush on

a surface to clean it! Just dab it sideways under running water and squeeze it with

your fingers. Smooth and blot the hairs with a paper towel and set upright with

the brush facing upwards to dry completely.

Page 3

Stitch:

Use 2 strands of Cosmo Embroidery Floss and a

backstitch throughout unless otherwise directed

For instructions about how to do the stitches, please either visit my

website www.crabapplehillstudio.com and go to the

“Downloadables” page to print off or download my stitch guide…

or check out my video tutorials at…

Youtube.com/c/crabapplehillstudio

I will be posting the stitching instructions for the squares on Instagram and Facebook

every day in February.

I used pink #8006, green #5014, taupe #8039, and yellow #8031.

You can use any colors you’d like!

Crab

app

le Hill Stu

dio

© 2

01

9 M

eg Haw

key Trace using an 005 or 01 Brown Pigma pen.

Do not trace X’s. Just make a tiny dot at the center where the lines intersect.

Do not trace lazy daisy stitches (petals or leaves) just make a tiny dot at the pointed

end and another at the center of the rounded end.

Do not trace the fly stitches. Trace only the straight center line.

Do not trace feather stitches AT ALL. Just eyeball them.

Do not trace buttonhole stitches, edging, circles, or outward facing. Just eyeball them.

Do not trace the fabric square, fabric heart, or the design on last block with button.

Page 4