Slow Sunday Stitching - Keeping Track

It's the last Sunday of the year, which means the last Slow Sunday Stitching linky party for 2015. Thanks for dropping by and thanks to each of you for your participation over the past year!

I decided that in 2016 I would like to keep better track of my hand quilting efforts. The star in a star quilt I am currently working on is quite large, and it's easy to lose steam on such a big project like this. There are 83 blocks to quilt, which does not include the border quilting. This is the diamond quilting design between the blocks.
Here's the update of the quilted blocks so far:
*3 of 20 large 12" stars (quilted 1/4" inside the seams)
*6 of 32 small 6" stars (also quilted 1/4" inside the seams)
*6 of 31 diamonds which are quilted with a square in a square design 

I plan to document as I complete the quilting in each of the three different blocks in the quilt. This is the very complex and high tech coloured chart I made for this purpose! Hopefully this will help me to stay motivated.
What are you working on today and how are you planning to keep track of your progress in 2016? Link up your blog post below and share your project with us.

Slow Sunday Stitching Relaxation

Can you believe this is the last Sunday before Christmas? And then there is only one more Sunday left in this year!?! 
Even though it is such a busy time of year, I find myself avoiding Christmas shopping and procrastinating my "to-do" list, and gravitating instead to some calming hand quilting. I am rationalizing it by reminding myself of the importance of staying well, and being relaxed in order to stay healthy and fight off all the germs and viruses that are in abundance at this time of year.
These are the benefits I'm hoping to experience with some slow stitching and relaxation... 

*Decreased heart rate
*Decreased blood pressure
*Diminished respiratory rate
*Lower pulse rate
*Decreased oxygen consumption
*Decreased blood lactate
*Decreased muscle tension
*Reduction of cortisol
*Reduction of noradrenaline

Doesn't that sound like what your body needs more of? Okay then, go get your stitching, take a deep breath, and invest some time in improving your health.

Here are my tools all ready for another "health improvement session"!  I have my ruler and frixion pen to mark stitching lines, and the thread colours needed for this quilt.

This is the star block I'm hoping to finish today on my winter quilting project. I am really enjoying working on this quilt. See the wide range of scrappy background fabrics in these blocks? Even though I made this quilt top 19 years ago, it's still my favourite kind of quilt. And I am very happy with the square in a square design I decided to quilt in the centre of the small stars. 

And to further enhance your relaxation while you stitch, here's my favourite Christmas song this year. I hope you enjoy it too!




We would love to see what you are stitching by hand while you relax today. Link up your blog post below and share your project with us!

Slow Sunday Stitching - Max Report

“Relaxation is good, holidays are necessary, but there is nothing as rewarding and healthy as doing what you love and loving what you do.”  Ogwo David Emenike What are you doing today? Something you love to do? I am! Granddog Max is visiting this weekend. No one does relaxation like Max! He insists that you stop what you are doing, and enjoy some relaxation and love. He just puts himself between you and whatever task you are trying to accomplish. Then he gives you the stare down until you comply. Here he is during his last visit - getting between me and my laptop. How can I resist that cuteness?!? Since his last visit he had a haircut, but not an attitude adjustment. This photo was taken yesterday while I was trying to do some hand quilting. Max parked himself between me and the hoop. It's hard to reach around a dog to quilt, but I will keep trying... to give Max attention and to get some stitches in. It's Slow Stitching Sunday! Time to relax and do what you love! Pick up your stitching and enjoy a few moments of peacefulness today. Link up your blog post below and share your project with us.

Slow Sunday Stitching

There are so many things to keep track of in life, especially at this time of year. My mind chronically spins with all the "to do" lists, of the things I would like to accomplish between now and December 25th in order to make Christmas a magical experience for the people I love. There were years when that spinning nearly put me way "over the edge".
If you are a Mom, you can probably recall years where you stayed up all night on Christmas Eve wrapping gifts that seemed to take forever, or finishing quilts that were not quite done, or constructing a Barbie Mini Van which required "some assembly" and in reality took 2 adults about 5 hours to build!
I've come a long way since the Barbie van incident! I now maintain a conscious awareness of the value of my time and remind myself frequently of how many hours are in the day! I keep track of things like how many tasks I want to tackle, and how much time I will realistically require in order to complete those tasks AND still maintain my sanity. 
I also celebrate small accomplishments along the way. This is also how I tackle large quilting projects. I am making some slow progress with my hand quilting project, and am keeping track of those small bits. In this project there are 32 small stars and 20 large stars to quilt. I have finished 3 of the small stars. It's a start!
How are you keeping your sanity at this busy time of year? 

I hope you will make some time to do some relaxing stitching today. Take a break, put your feet up, and scroll through the blogs below and learn from other hand stitchers.
Have a wonderful Slow Sunday!

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly linky party where we celebrate all forms of hand stitching. Make a cup of your favourite beverage to enjoy while you visit the blogs of slow stitchers around the world. It's the perfect way to start your Sunday!



I have been working on some of the sampler quilt blocks from the local July Shop Hop. When I was at quilt retreat I started this block and was able to finish it this week . It is an embroidery design in the centre of a pieced churn dash block.

Next up is a hexagon block, which unfortunately I am not enjoying. I hoped I would enjoy these hexies more since other hand stitchers seem to like making them. I have enjoyed making small hexies in the past, and I think the problem with this block is that the fabric pieces are precut and it's a struggle to have enough of a seam allowance to baste over the edges of the paper hexagons. The next step will be to whip stitch them together. I think I'll enjoy that stitching more.
What are you hoping to work on today? Link up your blog post below and share your hand stitching project.

Slow Sunday Stitching in November

REST!

Generally speaking I detest November, when there is less natural light, the beautiful colours of fall are gone, and the cold winter weather descends. In the cycle of life, it's the time for hibernation, when we crawl into our caves, try to keep warm, and sleep until better weather returns. Modern day life does not allow that cycle, and we have to work just as much in November as in any other month of the year. But we can be sure to follow the healthy practice of having one day of rest each week. 
Today's our day to rest and be thankful. 
And stitch.

I was so lucky to have an entire weekend of rest when I attended a quilt retreat with my sister last week. Of course I took my winter hand quilting project, which is hung over the porch railing in this photo. We had such a great view of the lake that it was hard to concentrate on sewing at times. I didn't actually get a lot accomplished on the stitching, but I did achieve my primary goal of rest and relaxation!

It was gorgeous fall weather and you know me... I couldn't wait to stitch outside! As soon as the sun came out, I went out. My sister took this lovely photo of the sun shining right on me. It was cold, but the quilt was perfect to snuggle up under and kept me warm enough to be able to quilt for a while, until my hands got too cold to stitch.

Today I'll be stitching indoors, especially since snow is in the weather forecast. 

What are you hand stitching today? Link up your blog post below. We love to see what you're stitching and cheer you on!

Slow Sunday Stitching

One of my goals in starting the Slow Sunday Stitching linky party three years ago was to develop an online community of like-minded people. It has been a wonderful experience getting to know amazing and creative stitchers around the world who share common interests. 

Thimbles and Thing

The stitchers in this photo are a little more aggressive than the folks I was hoping to connect with, but the captions make me laugh every time I look at it! 
Sunday is my favourite day.
I hop stumble out of bed every Sunday morning, make a pot of tea and enjoy visiting the blogs of my stitching friends to see what they're working on. 

I love being inspired by the variety of projects being made, seeing the tools being used, and learning more about the creative process that occurs when working with your hands. Thank you for participating whenever you can through linking your posts, and through your encouraging comments for the stitchers that share each week.

This weekend I'm making some slow progress with my winter hand quilting project. This is exactly where I was sitting yesterday while putting in some stitches. I love my Ikea lamp with the flexible neck and the concentrated pool of light that is perfect for hand stitching. Today I hope to finish quilting at least one more small star block.


I want to send out a huge thank you to Stephie (a quilting blogger from the United Kingdom) for the wonderful post about my blog. Stephie I am honoured by your words and by your enthusiastic participation in the Slow Sunday Stitching community!

So what's going on this week? What are you hand stitching? Link up your blog post below and share your project and progress...

Slow Sunday Stitching

Today I am starting to hand quilt my oldest UFO.  This old quilt was pieced in 1996 so it will soon be 20 years old! You can read more about this quilt here. 
It's time to start the quilting.

This quilt holds so many memories for me. I always had in mind to hand quilt this project, but somehow it never got to the top of the project pile. 

Favourite hand quilting batt

I finally bought a package of my favourite hand quilting batting and a new box of pins. It's a queen size quilt, so I needed to get more pins since they will be committed to this project for a long time.

Pin basting

The pin basting was finished this week and it was a tough workout for my hands, with only one episode of bleeding. The hand quilting will be a breeze compared to the pinning process. 




And so the hand quilting journey begins again, although I don't know yet what the quilting design is going to be. Stay tuned :)

What are you hand stitching today? Link up your blog post below so we can see your project and encourage you on your journey. 

Slow Sunday Stitching

It's Sunday again and a new month has begun. The fall season is my favourite, so I am always sad when it comes to an end. I spent as much time as possible outside this week, soaking up the warm sunshine and beautiful colours.

Life is Beautiful Block #19

I also finished another block for my Life Is Beautiful quilt. This block pattern is of 4 apples, so I just had to use apples in the photos. Believe me when I tell you these apples were crunchy and delicious, and a great celebration of all things that are wonderful in the fall!

Today I will slow down, breathe, and take a walk on the crunchy autumn leaves that are now covering the ground. And then I will get out my hand stitching, and start my next block.
What are you planning to do on the first day of November? I hope it includes some hand stitching.
If so, link up your blog post below and share your project with us.

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts! Make yourself a cup of tea or coffee and join us to celebrate the experience of living life more deliberately and slowly.

I am so happy today to be hand stitching the binding on my October UFO. I cut these lime green scraps from the quilt top and backing to make up over 360" of binding.

It is now attached to the quilt and I'm plan to spend the better part of today hand stitching it to the back of the quilt.

Busy brain

Why do I stitch by hand when I can make a machine finished binding in a fraction of the time?  For me hand stitching is all about how it makes me feel. It forces me to slow down, calm down, power down. It's like yoga stitching. It brings me out of my head and into my body, into my hands, into the enjoyment of this moment. I breath deeper, and feel the relaxation increase as I take each stitch. 
How are you relaxing with hand stitching today?
Tell us about how you benefit from stitching slowly and link up your blog post below. 

Slow Sunday Stitching

Sometimes the body just forces a person to slow down. That's what happened for me this week. Due to back pain, I have been forced to do everything more slowly and thoughtfully. It's a different way of moving through life when you have to consider each movement, how much pain it might bring you, and if it is going to be worth that pain.

I went to the Waterloo County Quilters' Exhibit on Friday, which was a calculated risk, and totally worth it! It was a lot of walking and standing but manageable for a short time. Yesterday's blog post showed a few quilts, but today I want to show the Slow Stitchers the quilt I won in the mini quilt raffle. This little gem was made by Judy Pearce and the squares finish at 1/2"! The green hand stitching is done with varigated thread using stem stitches and lazy daisy stitches. It's a tiny gem that is now living at my house :)

Life is Beautiful Block #18

The positive side of having body pain, is that while being force to slow down, I've been doing a lot of hand stitching. Another block is completed for my Life is Beautiful project.

Then I picked up an old hand quilting project. It's a 12" block that has been waiting to be finished for a couple of years. Ahh... hand stitching is just what the Dr. ordered!

What are you hand stitching today? Link up your blog post below and share your project with the hand stitchers.

Slow Sunday Stitching

Happy Thanksgiving!

Welcome to Slow Sunday Stitching and Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian readers! Today we celebrate all that we are thankful for. One of the things I am so thankful for is each of you who contribute to Slow Sunday Stitching, by linking up your blog posts, sharing your love of hand stitching, and by leaving encouraging comments for others. 

Life Is Beautiful block #17

In between cooking, visiting, game playing, and counting my blessings, I will find some time to fit in a bit of hand stitching. This week I finished another block for Life Is Beautiful and I'm well into the next block.

What are you stitching today? Link up your blog post about your hand stitching project and share your progress with us. We are thankful for you!

Slow Sunday Stitching

Life Is Beautiful block #16

Another embroidery block is finished for my Life Is Beautiful project. This is block #16 and it is a quote by Victor Hugo. I have been pondering the meaning and I think it might mean something like...
love is the sweetest creation that a beautiful life can produce. 


Here are more of Victor's interesting quotes to ponder:

*Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.
*When a woman is talking to you, listen to what she says with her eyes.
*Initiative is doing the right thing without being told.
*Music expresses that which cannot remain silent and that which cannot be put into words.


I won't have much time for slow stitching today, but hope to have time to get a few more embroidery blocks prepared.

Moon rising at dusk last night

And of course tonight is the "super harvest blood moon" event, so there won't be time for stitching then. It's a harvest moon (first full moon near the autumn equinox) and it's fixing to be the biggest, closest and brightest moon of the year. As if that is not cool enough, there will also be a total eclipse of the moon. You can read more about it here. The last time this happened was in 1988 and the next time won't be until 2033. So this is our big chance to see an amazing and rare lunar eclipse during evening hours. My parents are moon freaks, and I remember once when we were young, they woke up all us kids in the middle of the night to go outside on the balcony to watch a lunar eclipse! 
Will you be watching the moon tonight?  
What are you sewing today? Link up your blog post below and share your hand stitching project with the slow stitchers.

Slow Sunday Stitching - Abscission

Fall is my favourite season and I like to be outside as much as possible to soak up the sensory pleasures of the season. I love the sound of the rustling leaves that crunch when you walk on them, the sight of the beautiful gold, orange and red fall colours, and the smell of the decaying leaves in the forest. 
If you like to collect fun words, here's a good one for you - abscission. This is the process by which trees let go of their leaves. That's right... they just let them drop off. 

It's a good reminder to us to do the same - to discard that which no longer serves us. 
Just let it go. Loosen that grip, and stop clinging to what we think we need.

Of course, it's easier said than done!


Have you ever tried a butterfly release? I just happened to get a butterfly that was reluctant to let go. It just clung on to my finger. 
We bonded. We talked... mostly it was me doing the talking ;)
I briefly considered stuffing that beautiful creature in my pocket and taking it home. But I didn't. I waited patiently, explaining about the wonderful adventure waiting just beyond those trees.
And then, just like that, it let go and flew away.
Mission accomplished.

Today I will be slow stitching outside, enjoying the beautiful fall weather while I put a few more stitches in this embroidery block. I will be thinking about abscission and what needs to fall away.   

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