An idea has been bubbling around in my brain for a while.

And since this past weekend was a perfect weekend for some quick, simple, quite embroidery, I decided to execute the idea from start to finish.

I’ve been toying around with scrolly designs.

And while I was told “That’s too pretty for a cotton towel,” I must beg to differ!

Why shouldn’t a cotton towel be pretty, after all? And if the embroidery takes less time on this than it does on the standard cotton-towel-embroidery-design, I say it’s perfect for a cotton towel!

I wanted to come up with some embroidery designs for ready-to-stitch towel sets, that weren’t necessarily garden and floral designs, and that are suitable year-round.

I wanted designs that are classy, but not complicated. Designs that are satisfactory to stitch, that give some wiggle room for interpretation, and that look great when they’re finished.

I want them to be interpretable – that is, the stitcher can interpret the designs in numerous ways, making them as simple or as complex as desired, using favorite stitches, favorite color schemes, fillings or not, and so forth.

Scroll Designs

So, while I was considering ready-to-stitch towel sets, I started playing with some classic scroll designs.

I’ve always loved the look of scroll designs in all kinds of decoration, from iron-work to painted tiles to ceiling mosaics, to decorative architectural features, to illumination. Scrolls are everywhere, when you start looking around! And I love ’em.

So why can’t they be on the ‘umble cotton towel, I ask you! There’s no rule that says they can’t.

I chose a two-color combination – blue and yellow, because it’s a favorite – and I broke the blues into three shades. I used the yellow simply to enhance the design with a touch of a contrasting color.

I spent some very pleasant hours this weekend, test stitching. I even took a picnic and stitched outside in an isolated spot at the edge of an old cemetery overlooking the river valley. It was the perfect carry-along project on a beautiful spring day.

Find the Sunshine!

For those of you who have a stay-at-home order, check your area’s mandate. It doesn’t necessarily mean you must stay inside your house. It means to stay away from the rest of the population, sure. But in many cases – especially in rural and semi-rural areas – you can most likely go outside, and doing so will go a long way to keeping your outlook positive and your mind (and body) healthy. If you are stuck inside, open the windows, open the curtains, let the sunshine in. Stitch near a sunny window. It helps!

So that was my weekend stitching adventure. I like the outcome, and I think it’s worth preparing a few similar designs and testing them when time allows.

What do you think?

What other color combination could you see this design (or something similar) embroidered in? I’m quite fond of the blue and yellow, but I may dabble with some other combinations, too.

Feel free to chime in using the comments area below with your thoughts, suggestions, ideas. I’m all ears!

Hang in there!