This Siena geometric cross stitch pattern is now available in my Etsy shop!
This pattern is based on a detail on an illuminated musical manuscript. The Duomo in Siena, Italy contains the Piccolomini Library, best known for it’s stunning frescoes depicting scenes from the life of Pope Pius II. Just under the frescoes are illuminated musical manuscripts on display, and this pattern is just one of the flourishes on one of the manuscripts. Here’s a photo of the inspiration for this pattern, behind protective glass (thus the reflections) in the Piccolomini Library.
It was a fun challenge to get the geometry correct. I quickly found out that it’s one thing to draw an interlocking pattern pattern like this, but it is another thing to make a needlework pattern that reflects that same geometry accurately – on the diagonal. The diagonal orientation of this project also made me want to do this pattern in cross stitch rather than needlepoint, as a diagonal line of tent stitch looks fine in one direction but quite awkward in the opposite direction.
I used some metallic threads in this project. The manuscript has metallic golds throughout, so I used DMC E3852 for the gold stitching. I also used DMC E5200 for the white and E310 for the black, as well as E3843 for the blue backstitching. The shimmer from the metallics is a subtle highlight but it adds some nice texture to the project.
Using the DMC metallics proved to be a bit of a challenge. With normal embroidery floss, one tends to keep the needle about 2/5 of the way through the length of the thread, and to gradually adjust the needle position as the available thread shortens with each stitch placed. However, with the DMC metallics, the strands separate as they get repeatedly compressed and decompressed in the eye of the needle. I quickly learned to use shorter cuts of the metallics and to KEEP the eye of the needle in the same spot, about two inches from the end of the thread.
Like my compass rose and Arts and Crafts style projects, I’m happy that this Siena geometric cross stitch pattern was inspired by something I saw while traveling!