Embroidery Project Update

This is an update on my embroidery project. These blocks were hand embroidered over the past 2 years, and I finally decided that I needed to stop making more blocks and put them together into a quilt top. This is a Gail Pan pattern from the 2018 "I Stitch Club", which is now called "Send my Love" and is available as a BOM.

I trimmed the blocks, and looked at them on the design wall for a long time.
Finally the inspiration came to border the stitcheries in pastel batiks. I cut some strips and liked where this idea was heading. This terrible photo shows the border strips pinned to the design wall.



Once all the pieces were organized, I pinned them all together and took the pile of blocks to a sewing day with friends. 

I really love this photo of my friends flipping through the stack of blocks, making  comments on each design, and picking their favourites. They are such kind and supportive women, and as we all know... loving friends are necessary for survival!

Lucy my Singer long bed 301 was the machine choice for the sewing outing. She is lightweight to carry and sews like a dream. Lucy and I had a great outing and successfully sewed all these blocks into a quilt top.

I love it!
I don't know how to quilt it yet... the ideas are still percolating. 
Hop over to Small Quilts and see more design wall postings.

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party!
Last night we turned the  clocks back one hour because it is the end of Daylight Saving Time. Which means (in theory) that we all get one extra hour of time. In truth it feels like I get an extra hour of darkness every day!
What are you going to do with the "extra hour"? 
I'm sure we'll all have a little bit more progress on our projects because we'll all be stitching for one more hour! LOL 

I'm happy with my hand stitching efforts this week because in spite of a flare up of hand pain, I was able to  finish my Scrap Dance Tango quilt  including 239" of hand stitched binding!

I also finished up two embroidery blocks. This is a Gail pan pattern from her I Stitch club last year (this year is a Christmas theme).

You'll have to stop by tomorrow morning to see my other finished embroidery block as it's the centre of   block #4 for the Happy Little Things blog hop. 

What are you hand stitching today? We hope you will link up your blog post below and share your project with us. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Slow Sunday Stitching Announcement

Welcome to the weekly party where we celebrate the art of hand stitching! 
And today I have great news - I am planning the very first (hopefully annual) Slow Sunday Stitching Retreat Day! It's short notice because a day lease just became available at my favourite facility so I took the opportunity to scoop that up for us! 
If you enjoy hand stitching you are cordially invited!

It will be held at St. Brigid's Villa in Guelph, Ontario which is a beautiful facility on the outskirts of town. 

Here is a photo I took on the way to a  retreat there last year in late October. (Hopefully we won't have snow in early October, but you never know!) As you can see it is in the country at the end of a long lane. There is a beautiful work room with lots of windows all around and I just know that amazing things can be created here!
Mostly we will be working on our own projects and there will also be some tutorials to learn new skills. Of course there will also be a show and share time to be inspired by our creative stitching friends. 
Let me know if you are interested in coming or if you have any questions about the retreat. It's all about taking time away from your busy life to rest, to renew your energy, to take some slow stitches and enjoy being around rejuvenating creative energy! I can hardly wait!
Today I will be finishing this fun little Gail Pan embroidery. Sorry about the washed out photo... it's sunny here this weekend! The variegated thread gives an "interesting look"... I'm not sure if I like it yet or not!

What are you hand stitching today? Link up your blog post or instagram below (you can find me on instagram at ssskat7 and use #slowsundaystitching).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Slow Sunday Stitching

It's Sunday and you know what that means... it's time for the weekly hand stitching party! We hope you will pick up your needles and thread or yarn and start making some stitches. 

I have been busy judging local fall fairs and have seen some beautiful hand stitching. Just look at these hand embroidery pillowcases with such a variety of designs. I have never seen anything like the one on the bottom right with the blue variegated crocheted skirt. Such a treat to see these treasures up close!

Today I'll be putting stitches into my own embroidery project.  I'm working on my Gail Pan "I Stitch" blocks from last year. I think I only have 3 or 4 more to stitch. I have chosen an odd variegated thread to make this house and look forward to seeing how it will turn out.

What are you hand stitching today? Please link up your blog or instagram post below and share your project with us.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching link up! 
We are in the middle of summer here, and it has been a comfortably warm summer, with a few really hot days, but also enough rain to keep the grass completely green which is very unusual.

Projects from my takealong bag set out on the picnic table

We have had some great camping weather, and on our most recent trip I realized I had taken 5 hand stitching projects in my takealong bag! Yes 5! You just never know what you might feel like stitching, right?!? I had an embroidery block, 2 hand quilting projects, an EPP, and a hand appliqué project.


First I finished up the chicken embroidery. It is a Gail Pan design and had the word 'eggs' under the chicken. But I decided that since only a couple of the blocks have words, I would not stitch any  words since it drew too much attention to those blocks with words. Instead of the word 'eggs', I stitched three eggs!
So cute.

Then I worked on the scrappy triangle quilt that I pieced in the spring. 

This project just  needed the edge  of the triangles appliquéd to a muslin strip. I tried the Aurifil 80 weight thread and it makes a lovely job on the appliqué. However, you really need a needle threader to deal with this very fine thread as needles are impossible to thread otherwise. I love the Clover desk needle threader... it's quick and easy, and works every time! 

Eula block from Friendship Album

Then I did some hand quilting on my Friendship Album quilt. It's just getting some stitch in the ditch quilting and 2 of the 9 blocks are finished now.

What are you hand stitching today? Share your projects with us so we can encourage you on your slow journey!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching celebration!  Last week was the 7th birthday of the Slow Sunday Stitching link up and I posted on Thursday that Sandra was the winner of the draw for the quilter's prize package. Congrats to Sandra!

Who knew that the inspiration of a turtle seen on a random walk by the river would result in a weekly event for years to come!  At this point I have written at least 364 times Sunday blog posts about the benefits of slowing down with hand stitching.
And today is no exception.

It's time to slow down your life and relax with some hand stitching. This means you sit and relax, with your project in your lap, and your hands slowly taking stitches.
One at a time. 
There is no machine involved. 
Just you and your hands, your needles and threads. 


This is the embroidery block I finished this weekend. A little bird/sheep stack of cuteness! This is a Gail Pan pattern from the "I Stitch Club" last year, which is now called "Send my Love" and is available as a BOM. I have my next pattern traced out and today I'll be stitching a chicken!

And I also wanted to show you a stitchery that my friend Janet worked on while we enjoyed a relaxing visit last Sunday at the park. 
She is stitching a family joke/riddle using a variegated crochet cotton. She doesn't like the way the title "Riddle" turned out, so she is removing those stitches and trying something else. Eventually it will become a pillow for a wedding shower gift.


What are you hand stitching today?

Link up your blog post below and share your project with us. Last week we had our first instagram link up and thanks to Stephanie from Simcoe, I now have an instagram account! Woo hoo! You can tag me (whatever that means!) at SSSKat7.
Thanks Stephanie for the encouragement to take the next social media step... now I just need to learn how to use it!
Let's stitch! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly linky party where we celebrate the art of hand stitching!

I am working on my hand embroidery project that is well into it's second year of production. I took this hilarious photo while working on a block at the beach. You know how your eyes see a certain view and you take a photo that is nothing like what you had envisioned?!? I was stitching a sailboat at the beach, when I spotted a sailboat on the lake. 

I thought wouldn't that be a cool photo to have an actual boat and a stitched boat in the same shot?!?! 
It sure would be! 
Can you see the boat on the horizon just to the right of the pink hoop? 
You can't?!?! 
Of course not, because it's microscopic.

A+ for effort and F for the end product! LOLOL

I am stitching these embroidery designs on the edge trimmed from the muslin backing of the "Red Repro Broken Dishes" quilt. 
Here's the finished boat block. I stitched a "K" on the mast flag just for fun.

Remember that the 7th birthday party of Slow Sunday Stitching is coming up on June 23rd, so make sure you put that on your virtual calendar! It won't be an in person event, but that is my dream to one day host a Slow Sunday Stitching retreat day.
Link up your blog post below and share the hand stitching project you are working on.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! 

Last week there were so many amazing projects to enjoy in the link ups, and I just want to acknowledge how amazing it is that this link party has been going for 7 years this month!  We will have a big birthday party later in the month, so stay tuned for the details on that. I'm so happy that the art of hand stitching is alive and well, and that YOU are a part of keeping it going. For all the times you linked up to share your project, and visited other bloggers, and left encouraging comments... THANK YOU!
As always, I encourage you today to take a deep breath, and spend some time indulging yourself with your needles and beautiful threads. 

I finished a quilt this week which included hand stitching about 300" of binding. It's my favourite relaxing hand stitching. You can see this is the pretty navy floral backing for this quilt. You can see the finished quilt here.


I also made progress on my embroidery project this week finishing this cute tree block with some flowers and a heart. There were a few lazy daisy stitches on this block and I enjoyed making them as a break from all the back stitching.
This is a block from Gail Pan's 2018 "I Stitch Club". This year's club features Christmas blocks, but I am being very disciplined and committed to finishing last year's project before I start another one. 
What a novel concept!


What are you working on? We love to see what you are stitching with your own 2 hands, without the assistance of any machines.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Slow Sunday Stitching

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there in Slow Stitching land! I hope you enjoy a wonderful day with your family and have a chance to fit in time for taking some slow stitches on your favourite project.

Gail Pan embroidery pattern

If you think embroidery and mermaids are a perfect combination, you need to know that it's Mermay over at Days Filled With Joy, so if you would like to stitch a few mermaid blocks, click here to get the first pattern. 
I'm being very disciplined and focused on my Gail Pan blocks from the 2018 "I Stitch Club" project. I'm happy to be finished with the winter theme blocks and have moved on to the spring theme. Isn't this one sweet?

What are you hand stitching today? Link up your blog post below and share your slow stitches with us...

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party!

coffee and stitching

It's time to get out your stitching project, a cup of your favourite beverage, and enjoy some relaxation.
These are the beverages enjoyed during a visit with family from Michigan last weekend. A visit to Tim's is always on the agenda!


I have finally made some progress with my embroidery project. I was hung up on the snowman block, tired of winter weather happening in the spring, and not wanting to finish it. I decided to buckle down and get the snowman block finished while we visited. 



It was finally time to trace another block pattern using my fancy light box/window. I tape the pattern to the window, then tape the fabric on top of the pattern, and trace the design using a frixion pen. When the stitching is done, the marks easily disappear with heat. Sometimes the pen does result in a faint white line which is no problem since the line is hidden under the floss stitches.

I've been playing with layout ideas this week and wondered if these pastel batik frames might be nice for these sweet embroidery blocks.

What are you stitching by hand this week? Link up your blogpost below and share your progress with us. Every slow stitch counts!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching linkup! Here's your weekly reminder that slow stitching is like medicine - just a spoonful eases the aches and pains of life, and makes it feel more bearable. It helps you to feel more relaxed, and enjoy the healing powers of creativity. I don't have any specific research data to support those statements, but I do have a lot of lived experience!

This week has been full of hand stitching enjoyment. I finished block #2 of the Hand Piecing Quilt Along. And I hand stitched 216 inches of binding to finish the Circle of Squares quilt.

I also finished another one of Gail Pan's embroidery blocks from the 2018 I Stitch Club. I used an unusual variegated thread on the flowers and the designs at the bottom. The thread switched quickly from blue to pink to green and back to blue, which makes for an odd looking flower!
This year's I Stitch Club project is Christmas designs, but in a demonstration of remarkable self control, I didn't sign up because I haven't finished the wonderful patterns from last year yet!

These embroideries are being stitched on a strip of muslin that was cut off the side of the backing of my Broken Dishes quilt. Because I need enough fabric around the design in order to use the hoop, I have one finished design rolled up and pinned together at the top, the design I'm currently stitching is in the hoop, and once I trace the next pattern below, I will cut off the top design. I hope that makes sense to show how to use up long thin scraps for embroidery. The other technique I have used is to baste a scrap of fabric around a traced pattern so that there is enough fabric to stitch in a hoop. I find that using a hoop makes the stitching more even and flat.

I won't be doing any hand stitching today because I have some friends over to sew the Super Bowl mystery over at Scrapdash (for more info and links click here). 
Are you doing any hand sewing while you watch the Super Bowl game? Link up your blog post below and share your hand stitching progress with us.

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the Slow Sunday Stitching linky party! If you enjoy hand stitching of any kind, then you have found your tribe! You are welcome to join us here every Sunday and learn how we keep ourselves stitched together... it's one stitch at a time!



I've had a long and tiring week, so today (once I cook brunch for the family, clean up and wash the dishes, and then drive my daughter to get the bus home - which is at least a 2 hour production for me) I intend to put my feet up and enjoy some hand stitching time. I long for the "mindless needle pulling thread" feeling. I'll be working on the same Gail Pan embroidery block that I've been slowly working on for a couple of weeks. I have the fence posts stitched, but it's slow going. That's how life feels in the middle of the winter... like moving slowly through mud, with extraordinary effort, but not much productivity. I am familiar with this midwinter feeling, and I know it will pass, so I slowly stitch on! 
What are you hand stitching today? I look forward to being inspired by your hand stitching posts. Thank you for sharing!

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Slow Sunday Stitching Goals

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! Pull up a chair, make a cup of tea or coffee, and enjoy a few moments visiting hand stitchers around the world. It's so fun to see the creative ideas that other folks are working on.

Since it's the first link up of the year, I'm thinking about the top 3 hand stitching projects that I'd like to focus on in 2019.


1) "I Stitch" BOM by Gail Pan -  Many happy hours were spent last year stitching these sweet little blocks. I have a few more designs to embroider and am still thinking about how I want to put these blocks together.




2) Life is Beautiful - This has been one of my favourite projects for the past 4 years. I have greatly enjoyed each step along the way... the hand embroidery, appliquéing all the circles, and hand quilting the blocks. I would like to finish the quilting this year and get started on the process of joining the blocks together in the quilt-as-you-go style. 

3) I intend to continue the hand quilting on my oldest UFO. I still enjoy the process and do make slow and steady progress throughout the winter.

We thank you for all the ways in which you contribute to Slow Sunday Stitching... 
by joining the linky party with your blog posts, by visiting the stitchers who've linked up, and by encouraging them with your comments. We all know that when you've been working on a hand made project for years, it does help to increase the motivation to continue when someone cheers you on! 
Let's see what your hands are stitching at the beginning of  2019!


   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Slow Sunday Stitching

Happy Sunday! 
It's a day for rest, renewal, and stitching! 
We hope you will join us as we slowly stitch creative projects using needles and threads.



Here is the embroidery block for Gail Pan's 2018 BOM that I was working on this week. The December patterns have been sent out to us and I'm way behind in keeping up with stitching 3 designs per month. But that's okay, because I will continue working on this next year. 
Gail will be releasing a new BOM in the new year with a Christmas theme, but I am going to exercise great restraint and finish the 2018 BOM first!! 
Really, I am! LOL
I have about half of the blocks stitched (see many of them here) including this little cute heart. 

I put stitches into this heart in 3 different cities, including while waiting for my son's return at Pearson International Airport, at the November quilt guild meeting, and while visiting a friend recovering from surgery. When I was stitching, I was reflecting on the loving relationships with the amazing people in my life who fill up my heart. The world is full of people who are angry, self serving, and destructive. But people who are loving, kind, and generous are hard to find, and I was feeling very grateful as I was stitching, remembering all the relationships that add something special to the design of my life.

And what about you? 
Are you enjoying the benefits of hand stitching today? Link up your blog post below and share your projects with us.


   

    An InLinkz Link-up