A summer riverbank, with a kingfisher perched among the reeds, a blue dragonfly in flight, yellow irises in the foreground and willow branches trailing over the water: a design by Kate Heiss from the Silken Scenes collection.
Long stitch covers the ground quickly with straight stitches laid side by side; here it is combined with other decorative stitches, all explained in the instructions, which suggest the movement of water and leaves. The outline is already printed on the canvas, so there is no counting involved: you follow the printed lines and use the chart for the colours. A frame or hoop helps keep an even tension, and a picture frame for the finished piece is chosen separately.