Slow Sunday Stitching

 Welcome to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts! 

Make yourself a cup of tea or coffee (or maybe a pumpkin spice latte) and join us to celebrate the experience of slowly stitching your way through life!

The weather has turned cooler here and I am in the mood for Fall/Halloween projects. I drove to visit my sister and really enjoyed the leaves and the sights, like this interesting horse.

It was a beautiful day yesterday so we drove to the Mennonite fabric store and enjoyed browsing their fabrics. I also needed to pick up some DMC 310 black floss for my Halloween Prairie Schooler project, but they didn't have DMC or Anchor black threads. 

I had to buy a thread called Sullivan's and it is great! I don't think you can see where one black floss starts and the other ends. If you do see it, don't tell me because I think it looks okay.

I got in the mood for taking creative photos of my half finished project, and put it up to the window of my sister's house and asked her to take a photo and include the pretty tree in the background. This was what she got - a very spooky photo that doesn't show the tree or the stitching well!  😁

We tried again, this time putting the project up in the tree. Again, it's not a great photo, but we had lots of laughs at the photo shoot.

Oh well... you get the idea of where this project is this week. I think I'm about half way finished.

I posted a couple of videos this week, and one video shows the products in the Fat Quarter Shop Spooky Box. It was so fun to open and I am working on sewing that project in hopes of a Halloween finish.

Are you working on seasonal stitching projects?!

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Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly celebration of all hand stitched crafts! We hope you will join us in setting aside a few moments each Sunday for some relaxing stitching on your favourite project. Pick up a needle and thread, breathe deeply, and enjoy a little vacation from the responsibilities of your life.

I'm getting into the fall season vibes now and wanting to stitch all the fall and Halloween projects!

Photo from Pinker ' Punkin

If you too are looking for some wonderful inspiration and free patterns to try, check out Melisa's post at Pinker 'n Punkin for ideas.  I want to make ALL the things and I feel energized just by seeing all these treasures - click here to enjoy! I'm going to start with Pumpkin Stew. First step is collecting the supplies. I enjoy this part of the creative process and thinking about what is recommended, what do I have in the stash, and what would I need to substitute or buy.

This weekend I have been attending a Lindy Stitches online event called "Harvest Moon Hangout". I have put in a lot of stitches into Knock, Knock which is a Prairie Schooler design. It is made with only 2 colours - orange and black. I like the witch in the window, the owl, and the little bats. Today I'll stitch some pumpkins and work on the roof of that house. I would love to finish this in time for Halloween!

For some inspiration, here is a little collection of projects that I have hanging on the wall in my stairwell. 

When October is over, I will get out some of my  Christmas projects and hang those up instead.

Are you stitching Fall designs (or other seasonal designs if you're in the southern hemisphere)?  I am loving the change in the weather and feel inspired to start all the fall and Thanksgiving projects. 

Please link up your blog post below and share your hand stitching with us!

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Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly meeting of the hand stitching enthusiasts! 

It is fall fair season here and I have been busy judging at various local fairs, mostly in the leisure arts divisions. It is a great work out for my brain, and I enjoy seeing what people are crafting these days.

Here are a couple of examples...

First is the category of Christmas Trees smaller than 16". My job is to examine the items submitted and award 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place ribbons.

There are 4 items in this category, which always makes me feel bad because one will not get a ribbon. Sometimes if the items are really equal in quality, I ask if I may award two 3rd place ribbons and most fairs will let me. Here we have a crochet tree, a yoyo tree, a shell tree, and a wood shaving tree. It is like comparing apples and oranges! Mostly I look for indicators of good workmanship, any concerning issues with the  construction, and visual appeal. 

Here is the "Mason jar lantern" category with 3 entries, all of which were well done. We have a decoupage with dried flowers, a painted jar, and a crochet jar cover. All were very clever and pretty, and if they are equal in workmanship I consider the time spent in creating the item and the talent and experience required to create the art piece. 

Just look at this knitted dress! So adorable and unique!
It is mostly very fun, and so invigorating to see such beautiful creations. Sometimes the larger fairs have 8 or 10 items in the category and that can be harder to judge if all the items are well made.

It is also interesting to notice which category of items are empty - no tablerunners were entered in one fair, and no mittens in another! 

And of course, there is great food! Here I am testing the lunch pies with little portions of deliciousness! My fave was the lemon meringue!

So you enter any fall fairs? Do you visit them with your friends or family?

You can share you hand stitching update in the linkup below.

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Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the regular weekly practice of relaxing with some hand stitching! We encourage you to join us... all you have to do is take a deep breath, find your hand stitching projects and put in some stitches. 

This week I finished the cross stitch on the Fast Frisian pattern by Jacob of Modern Folk Embroidery. This is a sampler based on traditional vintage stitcheries from Netherlands and included motifs such as birds, little animals, and household items.  It is stitched on 18 count aida called "Beige and Confused" (purchased from Stitch Man Darcy).

I like how it has the year of the finish, and the stitchers initials in the design. It was very fun to work on using a limited palette of 5 colours of threads. I have enjoyed looking at the wide range of finishes on instagram - from those using many colours to some that are juusing just one colour of thread. You can see them using the hashtag #fastfrisian.

This month I have so many projects on the go that I really enjoy working on. I have no idea what I will stitch on today. It is sometimes hard to decide! What are you stitching today and how do you decide what to work on? 

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Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the first September hand stitching party! Fall is almost here and I couldn't be happier! I'm getting out my autumnal and halloween projects and seeing what can be finished this year.

This week I filmed a flosstube video of the projects I stitched on in August and was proud of the finishes I accomplished. 

Here are 2 of the little wallhangings I completed this week. The red blessings sampler that I stitched in January is a pattern from The Camping Stitcher and I am sending it to friends who have recently married. The green sampler is the Quick Quaker from Modern Folk Embroidery that I stitched in April. A 3rd finish has already gone to hang in my office!

I really enjoy making these little wall hangings and putting them up around my home and office, and sharing with others.

It has been very busy with fall fair judging this week, and that will continue for me until October. I do enjoy it, and the decision fatigue that sets in after you make 200 + decisions in a couple of hours is something I have learned to deal with over the years. But the process of judging is visually overstimulating and it does take a day or two for my brain to settle down to do anything creative.

Hence I'm a bit scattered in my stitching these days. But I will put some stitching in something today because it's Slow Sunday Stitching! And it's the labour day long weekend here which means we get Monday off work, so that's more stitching time for me!

What are you hand stitching this week? Do you get an extra day of stitching with a holiday on Monday?

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Slow Sunday Stitching

 Hello Slow Stitching friends! Welcome to the last August hand stitching party! 

I have been on a finishing bender lately and have a few donation quilts ready to drop off.

There has been a lot of hand binding over the summer when it wasn't too hot to have a quilt on my lap. The bottom 3 quilts are donations and the top is one that I have fallen in love with and can't part with... for now at least. I will do a blog post about each finish asap.

I have also finished a few little cross stitch pieces into wall hangings... while eating my favourite snack of course! I thought this photo was cute since the snack bag is almost as big as the project I was stitching! 

I have also started a couple of new things because fall is coming!  Are you starting to think about Halloween yet?  This will be a Prairie Schooler Halloween project. I had a difficult time picking the threads for this, even though it just needs a black and an orange. 

Who knew there were so many oranges in my stash? What on earth!??!

I don't even like orange!

Where did all of these come from?

What are you hand stitching this week? Do you have any new starts or finishes? Link up your blog post below and share your progress with us.

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Slow Sunday Stitching

Hello stitcher! Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party where we hope you will get lots of inspiration and encouragement to help you on your stitching journey.

I enjoyed a lovely hand stitching get together yesterday with 4 friends, and most of us stitched on bindings for at least part of the time. 

These are Pat's hands finishing a baby quilt that had 2 batts in it, so it was really soft and puffy, but the binding was a little more challenging.

Here are Gayle's hands working on some placemats for a fall fair entry.

Marg was working on a guild donation quilt which was a "R.O.M." - a row of the month quilt project.

And Joanne was finishing a table runner with a lovely print that looked great for a  binding. 

And lastly these are my hands working on a brown BOM (block of the month) quilt. I'm so excited to be almost finished this one because it is 15 years old!

We each brought other projects to stitch as well, but finishing projects seemed to be front of mind this weekend... likely because it's fall fair season right around the corner. 

What are you hand stitching as August is coming to an end? Are you any finishing items to submit in fairs? Please link up your blog post below and share your projects with us!

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Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to all the hand stitchers and to the "wannabees! Whether you are a lurker or a daily stitcher, everyone is welcome to celebrate at the weekly party!

I was a "wannabee" for a long time before I met a quilter who invited me to a quilt guild meeting in 1994. And since then I have been smitten by all the beautiful things that hands can create.

Last weekend I attended the Fergus Quilt Guild quilt bee at the Fergus Highland Games. In August they set up a frame to hand quilt together, and they are gracious enough to let me crash the bee/party.

I love this so much and feel like my best self when I'm around a quilt frame. I soak up the visiting, the stitching tips, the stories of the past, and the hilarity of these lovely stitchers. The women around the frame change over time, but the process and the experience is always the same.

This year the quilt was called "Plaidish" and the blocks were made by the guild members. The design is inspired by Scottish plaids, and the double X was quilted in each block to commemorate the Scottish flag.  

I am fascinated by the design, and have been thinking about starting my own version of this quilt - the free pattern and tutorial can be found here. I didn't stay as long around the frame this year because it was soooo hot and humid, and I started to melt. In fact it was so hot that the quilt markings done on Friday by a frixion pen has disappeared by Saturday morning and the quilt had to be re-marked. Those pen marks can be removed by an iron ...or a hot summer inn Ontario in 2026!

And in a bit of synchronicity today I am hand stitching a plaid skirt on the 4th lady on the Flosstube Friends pattern. I am randomly stitching various colours of threads through the skirt to create a feeling of plaid. I seem to be surrounded by the plaid theme!

What are you hand stitching today? Please link up your blog post below and share you slow progress with us!

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Design Wall Monday

I have pulled out a mystery quilt from Scrapdash which was the Super Bowl mystery in 2025 to work on. This is called Ten Speed and it was very tricky to make because there are 2 similar blocks with different orientations, and even now when I return to work on it, I keep making mistakes!

I started piecing this project on my 1952 Featherweight called "Charity" and even though she is 74 years old, she still sews like a champ. 

I have all the block pieces organized and believe I could finish it up quickly since I only have 4 more blocks to sew. Here are some blocks on the design wall. 

The block pattern gives a fun secondary design, but I keep sewing the blocks incorrectly. Can you find the one that needs to be unstitched?!?

It feels good to be working on some of my old projects and I hope to finish this quilt top in August. 

Linking up to Judy's Design Wall Monday 

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 often hear people ask "What are you going to do with that?" or  "Who are you making that for?" Earlier in my life I usually had an answer - a reason or occasion that I was starting a project. But now I don't seem to as often, and I usually answer "to make me happy" ( or "sane", depending on the day), or "I am making it for myself", or "I want to create something beautiful". For me, that is enough of a reason.

I stitched this Quirky Quaker Pig this week because Deanne from Stitching on the Rock sent the pattern to me. Does anyone "NEED" this lovely little pig?!? Absolutely not! But it made me so happy to stitch her, and the quaker motifs, and the little heart just makes me smile! 

Some people really don't understand this and look at me like I have lost my mind. Maybe I have?!? But it is the reason why after 40 years of quilting and hand stitched crafts I am still working on more projects. 

Society does not "need" the things I make, and my family certainly doesn't "need" more quilts to stay warm. I do these stitching projects  because I can't seem to stop doing it! Truthfully I don't feel well or "like myself" when I don't stitch something. But when I stitched this little wren I was in my own little happy world, using all the colours of thread, wondering how the bird would turn out, and forgetting about all the sadness, trials, disappointments, violence, conflict and loss that humans have to endure. 

And what about this thing?

This is a 30 day venture to join with the stitching  community and to  learn about a small community in Holland called Frisland. Do I need to learn about the women in Holland in the 1800s?!? No, but I want to learn! This is an August stitch along with Jacob of Modern Folk Embroidery called "Fast Frisian" and every day we have a stitching assignment of about 144 stitches. Jacob makes a video each day of the stitch along and has been sharing antique samplers and the lives of the stitchers who created them. Here I have stitched a spinning wheel, a key, a pot of flowers, a comb, and the base of the tree of life image. 

So there you have it - three of the projects my hands have touched this week. Today I will be at the Fergus Scottish Festival sitting around a  quilting frame and putting stitches into a quilt with quilters I only get to visit once a year! 

What are you hand stitching this week? Are you making something useful, or (like me) are you stitching things for relaxing, fun and to make the world a more beautiful place?!?

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Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party where we celebrate and enjoy a wide variety of stitching options! It is a hot mid summer weekend here, so I'll be staying indoors by the fan and stitching with a minimum of movements!

Yesterday I started the August Fast Frisian stitch along hosted by Jacob at Modern Folk Embroidery. This is a traditional sampler and we will be stitching about 140 stitches every day this month to finish it by the end of August.  

This is a new colour palette for me to enjoy stitching with, and I look forward to working on this for the month ahead. It's interesting that the colours kind of look Christmasy, but somehow not?!? This was the day 1 stitching in the bottom left corner of the design.

Also yesterday I posted a summary video on my Youtube channel to share the projects I worked on in July. You can view that video here.

It has been a very busy summer here so far and I'm looking forward to a quieter month ahead.

What are you stitching on this week? I hope you will have time to enjoy your hand stitching today!

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A Finished Quilt!

Since the pandemic it has taken me longer and longer to finish a quilt. I just seem to move slower, start more projects, and do more crafts. Have you experienced the same thing or is it just me?

Anyway, I finally  finished this quilt while visiting my sister at her cottage this summer. 

The Princess Charlotte quilt top was finished on Feb. 15, 2021.  This might have been the fastest mystery quilt top I have sewn in all the years of doing Super Bowl mysteries with Kris of Scrapdash. And then it sat in the "to be finished" pile.

This is a close up photo that shows the "lazy quilters way" to make faux mitered corners which I like to do.

The long arm quilting was done by Quilting By Design in New Hamburg. They give you a discount if you are donating your quilt to a charity and this quilt will be going to the community outreach program at  my local quilt guild.

Finished size is 50" x 62".

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the Slow Sunday Stitching party! We are stitching enthusiasts who value the slow process of creating unique projects with our own hands. We want to "smell the roses" and enjoy each day, and each project we spend time with whenever possible

This week however, it was not possible for me!

I finished up my Luhu Stitches bookmark and had this great idea to add an adhesive felt backing and then decided to do some blanket stitches around the outside. That was a big mistake!  Apparently you cannot stitch through an adhesive backed piece of felt. 

Well, you can, but the needle gets more gummed up with each stitch. The glue adheres to the needle and gets increasingly difficult to pull through.

And how do you get the glue off the needle? Well, if you wipe it with a tissue, it gets more gummed up with tissue fluff - everything sticks to it! If you try to pull the glue off the needle with your fingers, the glue stays and your fingers get covered in glue!

I hated every single buttonhole stitch around this treasure! That so rarely happens to me when hand stitching that I spent half the time wondering what my problem was. The problem was the glue. I dislike the stickiness of it. The threads were sticking to it, the needle was sticky and my skin was sticking to everything... ugh!

I did finish the bookmark but learned an important lesson - sdhesive backed felt should not be stitched through! But it's finished (although the corners are terrible) and the needle went right in the trash never to be used again.

Did anyone else have a successful finish this week? I'd love to hear about it - link up your blog post below!

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