"Allotment A Bird's Eye View" Pattern Review and Variation

My variation of a popular pattern

Collette Kinley’s “Allotment a Bird’s Eye View” is one of the most enjoyable embroidery projects I have done. The instructional, available here from Etsy, is thorough and detailed, with well illustrated stitch directions, good for many skill levels.

Cover photo from "Allotment A Bird's Eye View"

Stitch a pretend garden

An allotment is a portion of a community garden, a term more common in Europe than in the United States. The piece, as the title describes, is an aerial view of a group of allotments. Each rectangle in the pattern is one allotment, which has a variety of colors and stitches in it, to mimic the colors and textures of diverse plants in a real garden. It is very fun to work.

Rectangular variation

Rectangle instead of circle

Collette’s piece is designed to be displayed in an embroidery hoop, so the completed piece is a circle. I made mine into a rectangle to fit on a block of my Bulletin Board Quilt. I drew the "allotments" in a rectangular formation on the cloth, instead of a circle. I used the pattern’s stitch instructions to fill each rectangle.

Closeup of stitches

Design variation

I didn't closely follow the instructions because few of my "plots" were exact copies of the shapes in the pattern. The stitches can be used in any combination, and many of my "allotments" were of my own designs, mostly made with Collette's excellent stitch instructions. I especially liked the Turkey Stitch, which was new to me. It makes a grass-like texture. I was engrossed in my project most evenings, and made a new garden every day or two. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Use your own colors

The pattern has a checklist for thread colors, but you can use whatever garden colors you like. Lots of shades of green and brown, with pops of colored flowers. I used a scroll embroidery frame to hold the work. 

Work held by an embroidery scroll frame

Be proud of your garden

The finished piece turned out better than many of my real gardening efforts. Because I had so enjoyed working on it, I was a little sad when it was all done, but quite pleased with the completed piece. Thank you, Collette, for such a satisfying embroidery adventure.

My "Allotment" is in the center block of the quilt.