Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to Slow Stitching Sunday where we make time to slow down our lives, to breathe deeply, to pick up a needle and thread, and take some slow stitches. 

This weekend I have been attending the Jingle Ball which is a virtual cross stitch event. My friend Debby and I rented a little B 'n B on Lake Huron to enjoy the event together and have had a wonderful time relaxing, visiting stitchers around the world, learning about pattern designers, and of course doing some stitching!

I have been working on the Evertote Nordic Holiday Countdown which is a collaboration with Modern Folk Embroidery and Roxy Floss Co.  This is the mess from day #6. I was very discouraged by some counting errors I made, and a little fairy came in the night and ripped out most of the problem.

It was a Christmas miracle! (not really - my friend did the actual ripping out for me while I was sleeping)

There are still some errors that I can live with that I am leaving, and hope the design will turn out okay in the end. 

What are you hand stitching today? Are you working on any secret Christmas gifts? Me too!

Please link up your blog post below and share your projects (not the secret ones) with us!

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Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! Sunday is our day to slow down and rest, to be thankful... and to stitch to our heart's content!

I have been stitching miles of binding in the month of November. I finished another binding this week for the guild outreach projects. 

That was the 5th quilt I have bound this fall, so I took a little photo of the quilt pile before I handed them over to go to the folks who will distribute them to various causes. Every one of these quilts was made by at least 3 people - one to piece the top, one to machine quilt, and one (me!) to hand stitch the binding. We all get to do what we love! Each one is gorgeous in it's own way and I hope they will  provide warmth and comfort to their recipients.

Today I posted a  summary video of my November stitching projects which you can view on my Youtube channel here. One of my finishes was Cardinal Wreath (pattern by Tiny Modernist).

I also talk about my stitching plans for December, which are to work on the Quiltville mystery each week (sewing 4 patches this week) and to stitch 2 advent mysteries. The first mystery project is from Evertote (a collaboration with Modern Folk Embroidery and Roxy Floss). 

The second advent mystery is from Four Boys and a NL Girl Designs. This photo does not show how beautiful this blue fabric is... can't wait to get stitching

I'm so excited about my plans and hope that this month will be lots of fun!

Next weekend I plan to attend the Jingle Ball which is an online event for cross stitching. I'm sure that will involve some new projects, but hopefully not too many! 

Do you have any fun plans for advent celebrations or December project starts??? Please share your plans and link up your blog post below.

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Quiltville Mystery

Bonnie Hunter has started her annual mystery adventure! I have been eagerly sewing along with her mysteries for years and really enjoy this process of creating quilts. 

This year's project is called "Old Town" and  Bonnie's suggested colour combination is red, aqua, pink and neutrals. I am doing my version in navy, green, medium blue, and neutrals. The majority of my quilt is being made from Camille Roskelley's Shoreline fabrics. I just love this colour combination and bought 2 charm packs and yardage of my favourite prints. I will be adding in some stash scraps and lots of additional neutrals as we go along.

I enjoy sewing these units, so it went quickly for me this week. And as I was sewing along, I used some of the generated scraps to make a leader-ender County Clare block. It's not part of the mystery, but it's fun to make some  leader-ender blocks too.

I have already finished step #1 in the greens.

Here is what a squadron of flying geese look like! It's quite a pile! 

I am excited to see what step #2 will bring today!

Are you sewing along with the "Old Town" mystery adventure??

Slow Sunday Stitching

Thanks for dropping by the weekly hand stitching party where we're all about needles, threads, fabric, inspiration and self care!  It's just pure relaxation, taking deep breaths, and taking one slow stitch at a time. 

I am feeling much better after my bout with covid, and I am so happy to be enjoying some stitching time with friends this weekend. Three of us are working on quilt bindings today. Sandy is finishing a scrappy waffle block quilt for donation.

Louise is finishing a happy retirement quilt she made for her husband. The grey backing is a fabric called "fireside" which is so soft and cuddly. It will be a lovely quilt to snuggle up in in the winter.

I am finishing a comfort quilt for donation to the guild. The quilt top was made by my friend Lynn and it was machine quilted by another guild member.  I should be able to finish this quilt today.

I also finished another sweet cross stitch project. This is the mini strawberry sampler made from a free pattern by Melisa of Pinker 'n Punkin. It is hard to grasp how small these projects are when you see it on the internet, but this one finishes at 5" x 6.5".

Maybe you can tell by seeing this picture of me hand stitching the binding. The little Clover clips are "enhanced" by my friend Debby - so fun to use!  My sister would ask me "what are you making that for"? I always answer  that I make things so that I can be happy and fairly sane, and that's a good enough reason! LOL

What are you making today that is helping to make you happy and sane?!? We hope you will share you projects with us at the linky party below.

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Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! Pick up one of your projects and enjoy some restful stitching with us!

Thank you to all who offered me organizational tips on last week's post. I haven't had a chance to put anything into practice yet because I have been struggling with a bout of covid. I haven't accomplished anything except staying alive, and putting a few stitches in some projects. I have been thinking about my stitching as medicine and have been so thankful for something creative to focus on (when my mind wasn't muddled and my head didn't hurt)! 

I would say to myself "time for my medicine" and pull out a project bag! I might or might not add some stitches, but it helped me to feel better just to look at it! I was able to finish up my October Square Dance block and felt very proud of that.

Until I really looked at the photo I took. 

Uh oh... there are some wonky covid stitches in there for sure! It's not quite as finished as I thought! Oh well, it was very helpful medicine for me this week, and the missing stitches can still be added.

I'm planning to skip the November block (pineapples) and go straight to the December Christmas ornament block.

What are you hand stitching this week? Do you find your slow stitching to be medicinal? Link up your blog post below and share your projects with us!

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Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party where you can visit with members of the Slow Sunday Stitching crew around the world, right from the comfort of your own home! 

I continue to be smitten by my adorable grandson, who is always doing something interesting with his hands! Look at his cute little self! The beautiful blanket was crocheted for him by my friend Janet and it is used for cuddles, especially to warm up after bath time.

He also has a lovely blanket made by my friend Louise and it is also used regularly. These blankets have really tempted me to learn to crochet. Can I afford to become obsessed with one more type of relaxing and beautiful hand stitching?!?

Which leads me to my question of the week:

How do you juggle various types of hand stitching that you enjoy? How do you decide which project to work on? I am feeling overwhelmed and having trouble prioritizing my time, which means that I have many UFOs of crafts laying around in various stages of unfinishedness! 

This leads to confusion and disorganization in my stitching room. For example, I want to make the pumpkin table runner that I bought as a kit at Spring Shop Hop. But I can't find the correct pattern book. I have located Volume 2 but I need Volume 1 so I can take this to work on at Quilt Retreat. I know I bought it, and I put it in a "special place", somewhere under the all the quilting, cross stitch, embroidery, Fat Quarter Shop boxes, embellishments, and yarn for knitting projects!!

If you have any tips on how you keep all your hand stitching projects organized, please share them in the comments below or in your blog posts. I appreciate each and every one of you in our stitching community, and thank you for all the things I learn from you! 💖

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October Flosstube

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! We invite you to settle in for some relaxation, visit our inspiring stitchers at the links below, and take some time to put a few stitches in one of your favourite projects.

I have been quite preoccupied with celebrating my grand baby's first Halloween and my daughter and I worked hard to create this photo op.

There are lots of hilarious and blurry photos. The pumpkin was tippy and not quite flat on the bottom, but we finally did finally get a good one. It was so much fun!

Another fun thing I did this week was to make a flosstube video showing the projects I worked on in October. 

I show 2 mini finishes, a few started projects, a wonderfully creative stitchy bag (made by fellow slow stitcher Deanna), and I opened up the Fat Quarter's 2024 Spooky Box. 

I look forward to making the Witchy Manor project (using the fabric bundle called Pumpkins and Potions) at my quilt guild retreat later in November. I am thinking of only making the top part and not putting all those HST blocks on the bottom. Such a fun treat box for quilters!

Here is a photo of one of my recently started projects. It is called "Look for the Beauty" by Bent Creek. It's a small start, and I am substituting a lot of the floss for other flosses that I have on hand. The bird was stitched in a Roxy floss colour called "Annie". I hope this project turns out okay using my leftover flosses.

I will always remember starting this project and stitching it on a beach in October on an usually warm fall day. It was very unexpected weather and I soaked up every sunny minute! 

Last night we turned our clocks back for the end of daylight saving time, so it will be dark at suppertime now. That's okay... I have this great memory to enjoy and lots of quilts to keep me warm through the winter.

Your turn now - what are you stitching this week?

We hope you will link up your blog post and share your projects with us.

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