Sunday, August 13, 2023

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the Sunday hand stitching party! Make yourself a nice cold (or hot) beverage, take a deep breath, and get out your hand stitching. We hope you will join us in creating hand made items that bring beauty to our world! 

I have been bringing the beauty of spring to life in stitches - the blue birds, the sun, the flowers, the butterflies, the bees - so beautiful!  As soon as I finished stitching the birdhouse block, I had to take a picture beside my real birdhouse. 

This has been a slow and enjoyable project since I started it in April. This is a free mystery pattern from Melisa at Pinker 'n Punkin Quilting. It's not a mystery anymore since all the patterns/stamps have been posted, but when I started it, I had no idea of all the sweet scenes I would be spending time with this summer.

I started this block waiting at the hospital while my dear friend had surgery. It made the time pass faster, and made the wait bearable. We are so thankful that all went well with the surgery, and I will think of that day whenever I look at this birdhouse block.

I don't know why I stitched the blocks/stamps in the order I did - 3, 6, 2, 9, and this week I stitched block #1 with a blue bird on a  watering can. 

I think I wanted to move from top right to bottom left so that I wasn't always holding finished stitcheries in my left hand while stitching the next blocks? I'm not sure what experienced stitchers would do - do you stitch left to right, top to bottom, right to left when you cross stitch? I have no idea what is considered the best method since I am new (again) to cross stitch. Any suggestions are welcome!

In last week's post I offered the slightly used Stitcher pattern by Luminous Fibre Arts as a giveaway.  The random number generator picked #13 which is Terri in B.C. Congratulations Terri - I will email you and get your address to send the pattern to you. I wonder what colour of floss you will enjoy using for this fun project!?

And now it's your turn - what are you hand stitching this week? Link up your instagram or blog post below and share your slow progress with us.

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10 comments:

The Cozy Quilter said...

Your Spring stamps are each so cute! What a fun little project!

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

Melisa's Spring mystery was full of sweet little designs! I didn't stitch them all, but I did stitch a few. I love your birdhouses - both the real one and the stitched one! Did any birds make a home in your wooden one this year? We watched some house sparrows make a nest in ours, but for some reason they abandoned it before laying any eggs. Enjoy your stitching today, Kathy!

Deanna W said...

Those little pictures of spring and summer are so cute. They are also a manageable size, I might even get them done!! haha

Deb said...

Love the Spring stamps design.

Melisa- pinkernpunkinquilting said...

Your Spring Stamps are so beautiful,Kathy .It is so exciting to see your progress and I am so happy that it brought comfort and a distraction as you waited for you dear friend. So glad to hear that she is doing well. Have a wonderful week and Happy Quilting and Stitching.

grammajudyb said...

I don’t think there is a right or a wrong way to stitch. Your reason makes sense. I almost always start in the center. Work my way to the top then stitch left to right. But sometimes the design leads me a different direction. It’s all good!

Karla (ThreadBndr) said...

Your little spring 'stamps' are darling.

As far as order of work: in general, I like working from upper left to lower right. I work on scroll rods if at all possible, in Q snaps if the project is wider than about 22 inches (like Dutch Beauty was) I work two handed with my right hand above and left below and I think working from left to right keeps my hand off the finished stitches for the most part.

Lisa in Port Hope said...

No photos, so no post, but yesterday I was doing repairs on the jacket from a formal scottish uniform. Likely over 75 years old, and I had to handstitch the lining back in place.

Terri in BC said...

Wow, what a surprise to read I was the winner of the Stitcher pattern. Thank you so much! I have emailed you my address.

Andree G. Faubert said...

Hi Kathy, those are sweet Spring patterns. Enjoy the rest of the summer.