Sunday, November 22, 2015

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!




27 comments:

VivJM said...

Lovely shot of you quilting outside! How wonderful!
I feel the same about November, but am just in the process of basting a quilt ready for some winter quilting for snuggling under :-)

Anonymous said...

November is also my least favorite month per the reasons you mentioned. Such a lovely spot for last week's retreat. I plan on joining the link this evening. Hope it gets fixed soon as so many look forward to adding their hand stitching project.

Lesley said...

What a beautiful quilt, and what a beautiful picture of you doing the quilting as the sun streams along!

Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow said...

Love that photo of you and your quilt outdoors with the sunlight streaming down! :)

Created by Kathi said...

Love the photo of you stitching in the sunlight! Very nice :)
I love to rest and stitch on Sundays also!! Love your blog header too... great shot!
Whether your linky works or not today... so happy I visited! Kathi

The Cozy Quilter said...

It is not often that we can sit outside in the sunshine in November! We have had pretty good weather up until now. Hopefully, the linky website will work soon. (My iPad autocorrected "linky" to "kinky"...so glad I caught that before hitting the publish button! )

Debra said...

I love stitching outside in the summer. Good for you braving a chilly morning to sit outside and Stitch! Great photos of you and your quilt.

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

pretty outside shots - I general I'm ok with November here in Arkansas we usually have nice color and nice temps. Have a good Sunday!

CathieJ said...

What a pretty place to sit and quilt.

Denise :) said...

I adore this time of year . . . everything except for the loss of light, with the shorter days, which I combat with a 'happy light'! Your stitching spot yesterday morning looks idyllic! Glad you got a nice day in before the snow hits. It'll be a looooong time before we see any snow down here!! :)

Carole @ From My Carolina Home said...

Pretty picture of the sunlight on you quilting. I love this time of year, cooler is wonderful.

Deb A said...

Such a pretty picture. We called November stick season in Vermont - all the leaves were down and everything was brown! Enjoy snuggling and quilting while the snow gently falls down. We have rain on tap for the day.

Sarah said...

I'm glad you had a good time stitching! We've had a really mild November but the last couple of days it's turned bitterly cold, perfect for snuggling down with a good film and some sewing!

Lisa J. said...

I normally hate November as well but we've been pretty lucky this year with the weather and it looks like a packed down winter wonderland today.

SandraC said...

I don't feel November is too bad, but this year I'm not ready to welcome it as I found Summer just went by too fast. My hateful month is February, when you are just aching for Spring to come around.

Monica said...

Oh no! It's the first time in months that I've managed to coordinate hand stitching and Sunday, and the links aren't working! Oh well, I guess I'll check in again later!

But in the meantime, your star quilt looks gorgeous against the lake view there. :D

Kaja said...

I'm with you on this: November just feels like one long slide down into the dark and cold to me. I love the photo of you stitching, very evocative.

Monica said...

Ok, that was fixed fast! Now to see what everyone else is doing. :D

Anonymous said...

That is a great picture of you quilting! Good job~ No wonder you don't like the colder weather setting in. You like to quilt outside! Hugs~

Ivani said...

Great picture of you taking advantage of a moment in the sun on the outside and quilting!! We live in opposite hemispheres, here summer is coming. Have a wonderful week.

Cathy said...

Enjoy the great outdoors while you can...I woke up to 8 inches of snow yesterday so there won't be any outside stitching around here for awhile!

Stephie said...

That looks perfect Kathy! Too darn wet to quilt outside here, never mind the cold. I don't mind November, there's still plenty of autumn colour and it's generally not too cold. There are 'markers' at this time of year too: Halloween in October, there's Guy Fawkes night on the 5th November, then in December there's Christmas and New Year...*then* comes the worst month of the year: February, ugh! There's nothing going on at all then but it's freezing cold and there's rain, rain, rain, short dark days, more rain and possibly a bit of snow, more rain - you get the idea!!! I guess we just have to make the most of now, exactly as you did with your sister. Your quilt looks lovely against all the trees too :) I'll be linking up tomorrow now as I'm a bit late writing my post today. Have a lovely week.

Kate said...

Looks like a gorgeous place to stitch. We had enough snow yesterday to say it snowed, but not more. Hopefully you won't so much that it gets hard to get around.

audrey said...

I actually usually love the first part of November, but I know it's a tough time in other parts of the country/world. Love that picture of you stitching away in the lovely sunshine!

Bees Knees Granny said...

With Ontario about the same latitude as Great Britain, I thought you might enjoy Thomas Hood's 1844 poem, "November". He also wrote "The Song of the Shirt", with different connotations of stitching than we quilters share: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/november-2/

Janet O. said...

Love that shot of you hand quilting in the sun's rays. : )

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

I didn't get any slow stitching done on Sunday, but, I did get lots of prep work for slow stitching (sewing the bindings on 3 sewing caddies, ready for hand stitching).