Sunday, February 11, 2024

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome stitchy friends! We are so happy to see what your hands are creating and to encourage you in your creative journey!

I am just back from a quilting retreat with long time friends. I feel inspired, exhausted, and exhilarated all at the same time! I am delighted to share some photos of the hand stitching projects my very talented friends worked on.


This is Sandy starting the day with some rug hooking. I was fascinated to watch this stitching process with wool strips hooked onto a canvas. The texture she created using different yarns and wools was luscious!

Here is Barb (very late at night) finishing the hand stitched binding on a guild quilt. This quilt was pieced by someone, machine quilted by a long armer, and completed by 2 different retreaters. Truly a labour of love to donate to the quilt collection to be donated to Home for Good project.


Another late night stitcher Louise is crocheting a gorgeous shawl for her talented physiotherapist as a thank you gift. Her hands are a blur as she stitches so fast, working from muscle memory, and not even using a pattern. Louise gifted one of her shawls to me at the beginning of the covid pandemic. 💕💕


This is my friend Debby knitting some beautiful purple socks with some self patterning yarn. Knitting socks is on my "to learn someday" list. She shared with us about the process of cutting the knitting to insert the heel and we were horrified! LOL 


And here is Sandy again, and this time she is hand quilting her blue block version of Life is Beautiful. I'll post more about this project next week. Sandy uses a  thread puller tool (hers is yellow) that you can buy from Amazon here. I want to try it out, especially for using with perle cotton stitching. Maybe I could finish my Kawandi quilt (using perle cotton) without so much hand pain?

I worked on many projects throughout quilt retreat, including finishing the binding on my Spring Stamp SAL. I love this little bird print I found for the backing fabric, and the happy floral print for the binding. 
Finished size: 9" x 10.5"


When the binding was finished, I took the mini quilt outside for a photo session and was pleased to have photos that really reflect what 'spring' means... blue skies, budding trees, cool breezes, melting snow, and sunshine filled days.  A big thank you to pattern writer Melisa who blogs at Pinker 'n Punkin Quilting and Stitching

Thank you for reading about my retreat friends' stitching projects. And now we look forward to seeing what our online friends are stitching! We hope you will link up your blog post below and share your slow progress with us.

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19 comments:

Kim said...

How wonderful to be at a retreat with those talented ladies! It must have been inspiring to all be together stitching each of your projects. I particularly love Sandy's hooked rug. Your spring mini quilt is a beautiful finish. How lovely it looks with the blue, blue sky as the backdrop.

maggie fellow said...

looks like a fun retreat.

Karla (ThreadBndr) said...

Ah yes, afterthought heels. They are mildly terrifying the first time you do them, but eventually cutting deliberate holes in your knitting becomes just another technique. Plus it mentally prepares you for steeks in your colorwork sweaters LOL.

Say "Hi" to all your real life stitchy buddies from your virtual ones

CathieJ said...

Could you fix the link for the thread puller tool. I couldn't find it on Amazon and the link doesn't work. I am sure many of us could use that tool. I love the variety of projects your quilting retreat friends are working on. They are all so pretty. Your Spring mini quilt is fantastic.

Sarah said...

Lovely to see everyone's project. It sounds like you had a really great time!

Kate said...

Your Spring Stamp SAL turned out beautifully. Looks like everyone had a productive retreat. Hope you've had a chance to recover a bit and get back to your regular schedule.

Jill said...

A productive stitching retreat indeed. Such nice projects going on. Retreats are fun and inspiring which makes the feeling tired part worthwhile.

The Cozy Quilter said...

Your Spring mini is all ready for display when real Spring arrives. This has been a weird non-winter this year. Retreats are so much fun and productive too. I have signed up for two retreats in March. I’m already planning projects to work on. Lovely hand work projects by your friends at the retreat.

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

Your Spring Stamp SAL is just delightful, Kathy! I love how you finished it with the backing and binding. The retreat you've been on sounds really fun, too - such an amazing variety of different kinds of stitching going on. Have a wonderful slow stitching Sunday!

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

it looks like you and your friends had a creative time all the the projects look so good!

Karrin Hurd said...

Beautiful finish for your Spring Stamp SAL! Looks like a wonderful retreat with all sorts of lovely projects! Happy stitching!

Angie said...

Kathy - what a lovely post, featuring so many diverse projects and talented people! Thanks for hosting Slow Sunday Stitching - I am so glad to find you and see all the gorgeous things people are working on!

Cathy said...

It is so much fun to see the variety of projects that can be slow stitched.

Angela said...

Looks like a fantastic retreat!

Melisa- pinkernpunkinquilting said...

Happy Sunday, Kathy. It is so wonderful that you were able to spend time at the retreat with your friends. I can certainly see why you came back inspired- so many wonderful projects going on. Oh my, your Spring Stamps looks beautiful!!!! I love it finished in a small wall hanging. I hope you enjoyed every stitch. Have a great weekend. PS. I have been following all of your lovely happenings over the last few weeks while camping. I am sorry I was not able to comment. Hugs.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Done sit-n-sews, but never went on a full blown retreat. Love your little stitchery - perfect for spring.

Jenny said...

It is so nice to read about all the various projects you and your friends were working on during the retreat. Thanks so much for sharing.
And just to set your mind at rest, cutting socks to insert the heel is one option, but certainly not what I do.

Deb said...

How lovely the projects being worked on at the retreat, such a fun variety of different stitching projects. The Spring stitchery is beautiful

Andree G. Faubert said...

Hi Kathy, it sounds like you had a great retreat. Your Spring piece looks great!