Sunday, March 31, 2024

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the Slow Sunday Stitching link up where we celebrate all the benefits of hand stitching. It's also Easter, which is a busy time for some families, so I hope you can find even a few minutes in between all the activities to pick up a needle and thread and put some stitches into a project you are working on.


I have several hand stitching updates for you today. 

Last weekend I enjoyed some time with a few stitchy friends, including this sweet pup who desperately wanted to learn to stitch! Here he is trying to figure out how the Clover needle thread works! 


Some progress was made on the Historical Sampler Company stitch along. 

I am disappointed that I didn't have more time with this because the fourth and final step will be posted tomorrow and I am not anywhere near finishing step #3. 

I have enjoyed some binding stitching this week. This is a donation quilt for my quilt guild. One person pieced the snail's trail quilt top, a long armer machine quilted it, and now I will finish it with a lovely binding. Can you see the beautiful quilt design?

This was a late night photo I took the night my 6 month old furnace started leaking gas just as the long weekend was starting. 

I thought I would cosy up with this quilt in bed to keep warm and stitch that binding. We had no heat overnight while the mechanic searched for a replacement part. The temperature only went down to 64 degrees so it wasn't unbearable with lots of quilts.

But you'll never guess what happened!! I dropped the needle - in my bed! I carefully took off all the bedding in search of the tiny needle and never found it! You know what that means - it will be a painful discovery for an unsuspecting body part at some point in time! LOL It happens to all hand stitchers at one time or another I suppose. And when that painful (and probably bloody) discovery happens, I will remind myself that at least we didn't die from a slow gas leak! Never a dull moment around here!

I finished the "It is Well" cross stitch pattern this week. The pdf pattern was purchased on an Etsy shop and was easy to follow. I used DMC variegated thread 4240 and I love how lacy it looks stitched on 32 count Belfast linen. I want to make it into a little pillow but can't decide which blue fabric is best? Which one would you prefer?


And lastly I finished March's Square Dance pattern. I loved stitching these 13 sweet little birds! The design is only 3" square so it is tiny stitching on 28 count Monaco evenweave.

Here are the first 3 months on the design wall.

I'm not sure yet if I want to sew these together in a calendar type wallhanging, or finish them individually as flat folds that I could change monthly in a frame.

So that is all the happenings from the stitchy room here. I do hope I will have time to peak in on the linkups to see what other folks are stitching this week. 

Happy Sunday Stitching everyone!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

16 comments:

Jenny said...

Your monthly cross stitch projects are beautiful. Good luck with finding the missing needle in your bed......ouch!

The Cozy Quilter said...

Thank goodness you are ok! We had a gas leak in our house when my daughter was a baby. The gas company came right away and fixed it.
You have been busy this week! Lovely bright colours in your cross stitch. Don’t you just love hand stitching the binding on a quilt?
Happy Easter to you and your family.

Gretchen Weaver said...

Years ago I had a quilt set up for quilting in our living room and my mother dropped a needle onto the carpeting. We searched and searched for the needle but couldn't find it. I got out the sweeper and vacuumed the carpet. Months went by, the carpet was vacuumed many time over the months. One day I was sitting in a chair, glanced over where the needle had been dropped and there it was! Laying there on top of the carpet! It wasn't even bent! Have a blessed Easter!

Kim said...

Ouch! Body parts are like a magnet when there's a lost needle. You have some beautiful cross stitch projects on the go. All three months for your Square Dance are lovely, and yes, those little birds are very sweet.

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

Looks like you had a busy week! I'm sorry to hear about the gas leak and the missing needle, though. Hopefully it rolled under the bed where no body parts will come into contact with it. For your little pillow, I like the bottom right blue, and I love the sweet monthly designs you've stitched for Square Dance, too. Happy Easter, Kathy!

Jocelyn is Canadian Needle Nana said...

No you don't want a real gas leak that's for sure! I drop needles all the time and Tony actually gifted me a magnetic doohickey for picking them up. I run it over the floor around my tv room stitching chair all the time. Do hope that needle turns up on the floor somewhere! Lots of lovely stitching here, Kathy. I love your cross stitched calendar pieces and the look of that 28 count Monaco evenweave. All lovely.

Elaine Adair said...

Oh those lovely stitches, and quiet time, are too infrequent! Sorry about the worrisome lost needle. Frankly, over my own many-years of lost pins and needles, I'm aazed that I've NEVER been stuck by one! Hope yours turns up in a safe way.

Deb A said...

Such lovely projects! I like the blue fabric in the lower right to finish off that piece. A gas leak! yikes. Glad you are safe and found it before anything bad happened. Hope the new part is found and installed and you are cozy again. Have a happy Easter Sunday and thank you for hosting this link up each week.

Angela said...

I am so glad you are okay and the gas leak was fixed!

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

search the floor around the area too in case it fell off of a quilt. I don't know how many times I find a tiny needle on the carpet just laying there that I missed for months even after the area has been vacuumed.

Kate said...

You've been working on lots of pretty things. Your March Square Dance is my favorite. Love all those little birdies.

LA Paylor said...

LOL the stitching puppy... probably trying to figure out why his person is paying attention to this toy that doesn't even squeak!
LeeAnna

Karrin Hurd said...

Great stitching finishes and progress. The pup is adorable! Hope you get your heating situation sorted out quick. What a pain. John used to find the needles I misplaced, he usually stepped on them! One time, long, long ago, we had a water bed and we were watching TV in bed, and I was stitching. He absentmindedly picked up a pin out of my pincushion and started poking holes in the mattress. It was on his side, and we repaired it, but I was told I couldn't stitch in bed anymore!

Sarah said...

I bought myself a large magnet because I'm always dropping pins and needles and with a dog in the house guaranteed she would tread on it! Your projects are lovely!

CathieJ said...

What a cute pup. I like the snails trail quilt. For your blue cross-stitch, I would go with the bottom right fabric or maybe the bottom left. I love the sampler you are working on. All those little birds for March are cute, but they must be really small. HappY Easter!

Angie said...

Oh my, I wouldn't want to climb into bed if I thought a needle was awaiting me ... and yes, it happens to all of us at one time or another!

For your it is well cross-stitch, I preferred the blue fabric in the upper left hand corner.

Thanks for hosting Slow Sunday Stitching, and I am looking forward to pulling mine out now!