Welcome everyone! We meet here on Sundays to celebrate hand stitching in all its forms.
Today I must publicly confess that I am suffering from a bad case of startitious! Everyday I want to start something new (says the creative part of me) but it is really not a good idea (says the logical part of me). I started 4 new stitches this week and forgot all about my June goals. Is it because the summer weather has arrived? Is is an innate response to having survived another winter? What is going on?
Yesterday I started this project called "Kind Words Cost Nothing" by Modern Folk Embroidery. I love it so much that I put 300 stitches into it before I could do anything else. It's so beautiful and I love it!
It just so happened that the beginning of the text are my initials so I stitched that right away. Also I was trying to count my way over to stitch the birds of course!
But even while I was stitching this beautiful project, I was thinking about what else I was going to start this weekend. Craziness! What do you do when this happens to you?
Please share your hand stitching projects with us. Do you find yourself starting more thing these days, or is it just me?
Today I want to share about the journey of 2 finished baby quilts.
My sister and I have developed a tradition of making a quilt when our nieces and nephews announce they are expecting a baby. Usually my sister begins the process, finding a pattern and buying the fabric, then she sews the quilt top and I do the machine quilting and binding.
When my nephew announced he was having twins this spring, my sister jumped into creative overdrive. She made 2 quilts tops that were similar yet different - just like twins! Both quilt tops use bright fabrics with elephants (a childhood fascination for our nephew). Here is my sister working on the layout on the design wall when we were at retreat.
I basted the quilt tops using my favourite method with curved safety pins and the Kwik Klip tool. While I baste a quilt, my mind conjures up possible quilting designs for the quilt. I decided to do the same thing my sister did in finishing the quilts -make the quilts similar yet different. I used the same Tula Pink backing fabric and same solid green binding fabric on both quilts, but quilted them diffently.
One quilt was straight line quilted using the walking foot. I used the hera marker to mark the lines to stitch on (you need really good lighting to use this method). This method is relaxing and easy, and the resulting quilt is lightweight.
This is a photo of the quilt before it was sent off to the parents-to-be. You can see some of the line quilting extending into the borders. Very simple quilting, yet it does the job.
The second quilt was densely free motion quilted and there are no photos of it in the quilting stage. I tend to "get in the zone" when I'm free motion quilting and don't take photography breaks! This is the finished quilt before it headed out the door. It was a heavier and less drapey quilt due to the intense quilting.
Maybe you can see the quilting design in this photo of when I was binding the quilt? This is my favourite meditative stage of the process in quilt making. I think about the parents of the babies, send positive loving thoughts for their safe arrival and recovery for the Mom, and say prayers for the family for a long and healthy life together.
And this is the photograph every quiltmaker waits for... to see the new owners using their quilt!
These sweet babes had a hard journey to the world, with an early extraction, health challenges, cardiac surgery, NICU stays, and finally both arriving home safely! They are doing very well now and is it too presumptious to believe the quilts provided the safe, healing comfort from which to heal and grow?!?!? 😁 💖💖
Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! I hope you will have some time to relax and put stitches into one of your projects today.
I finished this little Tiny Modernist project called "Midnight Ocean". It was stitched on 16 count aida using 4 colours of variegated thread, which made it very fun to stitch. It measures 3.5" square.
Yesterday I posted a video reviewing the projects I worked on in May and some things I might tackle in June. You can view it here.
And I also have 4 quilts back from the long armer that I look forward to binding, so that will be fun in June! What do you look forward to hand stitching today and in June? Here's the linky party where you can share your blog post.
Welcome to the hand stitching party! Pull up a virtual chair, make yourself a yummy beverage and snack, and enjoy some time with your needles and threads.
This week I have 2 stitching projects that are not mine that I am adding stitches to.
That's okay - it's an easy fix because I caught it early and it's not too much to rip out. I'll be finishing it up soon and get it in the mail to the next stitcher to enjoy.
The second project was sent to me by Olivia @LongLivTheStitcher. We are doing an exchange to help each other make progress on a project that is stuck. Her project is called "Coffee Bean Sampler; The Magical Elixir Series #4". This is the package I received from her in the mail. I love it and am so happy that the mail services in her country and in mine were diligent about taking good care of it and delivered it safely. I hope to work on it today. The next part to stitch is where the letters say "My birthstone is the coffee bean"!
It is odd how we sometimes lose interest in things we are stitching. And yet someone else can find that fresh interest and joy, and be excited to work on your old dusty projects. I am digging around in my WIP bin to find something I have lost interest in and send it to Liv for some stitching attention.
Do you have any stitching projects that you have lost interest in? A bag of unloved, half finished items in a bag behind your chair? Things in closets in tote bins? Remember that you used to love each one of them and maybe they just need some fresh eyes and a little TLC to become something you can finish? Or pass on to someone else who will be delighted to have it?
Welcome to the weekly Slow Sunday Stitching party! Pull out your hand work and join us as we work on our stitching projects.
I am attending an online stitching event called "Spring Mingle" (organized by Lindy Stitches) this weekend and have been jumping from project to project. I have started a couple of things, and have not made much progress on anything! I am "spinning my wheels" as they say!
However, I did finish the Quick Quaker Stitch along by Jacob of Modern Folk Embroidery that I started in April. I used a variety of green threads and am happy with how it turned out. I kept telling myself that Mother Nature provides all the greens for us to enjoy in the spring,and they all "go together". Truthfully though, I would remove 2 of them if that were not true!! 😉
This is a photo of my computer screen from yesterday when Jacob shared about his journey as a designer and some of the patterns he has made. I was working on one of his designs (Little Acorns) as I listened. Today I will be attending a lecture by Jacob where he will talk about errors on historical samplers. I'm really looking forward to learning more from him.
What are you up to today? Please share the projects you are hand stitching below.
Hello and welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! You are welcome to join us as a full on participant/party animal or a wallflower/observer. We are happy you are here!
This has been a very full stitching week as I am participating in "May Maynia" which just means starting lots of things and making yourself crazy happy! My plan is to start a new project every week in May. This week's start is a Tiny Modernist design called Midnight Ocean. It is a lovely underwater scene with a whale, jellyfish, coral and tiny little fish.
I am using 4 colours of Cottage Garden threads from Australia and really enjoying them. It is fun to experiment with new products. I like the creative packaging and how easy it is to use the threads and keep them organized. I did not like the price ($48 for 4 threads!) but it was a special treat I bought for myself. We all need treats from time to time!
A treat that Mother Nature has given me is a robin's nest outside my window. It's in a bit of a precarious cedar tree and I am very worried that a squirrel will get them. I just hope this Mother is an experienced nest builder and that the branch will hold the nest safely until the babies can fly away on their own. I have literally spent hours watching the nest and am amazed at the time the mother bird spends getting worms and feeding the babies.
And speaking of mothers, Happy Mother's Day to all who are celebrating today! Whether you mother the furries, the feathered, the friends, the human children, the community, or the earth... thank you for all your nurturing efforts! I am very thankful for the loving support I have received from the stitching community. Truly it has helped to sustain me through many hard times over the years 💖
I posted yesterday about a quilting finish that I am very proud of - click here to see that post if you missed it. And today I'll be putting a binding on another quilt so I will have some binding to enjoy in between family time.
What are you hand stitching today? Please share your slow progress with us!
It's not very often I get to celebrate a finished quilt since I have so many projects in various stages of completion. But today I have a special finish to share!
This is one of Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilts called Chilhowie started in November of 2022. It was during the throws of covid lockdowns when this project was started and I did not want to shop for any of the fabrics. So I used scraps from my stash and sorted them by value (not colour).
I finished my quilt top in September 2023 and then it sat in my UFO closet. My friends Annie and Lynn finished their quilts and donated them to my guild's community comfort project and they are gorgeous quilts. Annie made her quilt the size that the original pattern was with 16 blocks, and Lynn made hers a bit smaller with 12 blocks. My version is even smaller using 9 blocks, and the finished size is 59" x 59".
It's always amazing how quilts can be made from the same pattern and yet look so different!
This is a photo of one of the blocks in my quilt. The predominant red fabric is an old Kaffe Fassett fabric called Millifiore and I barely had enough of it to finish the 9 blocks and have a bit left for the corner pieces and some of the binding. You can see how scrappy the blocks are! When I was sewing the blocks together I called it "the hot mess express" wondering if this was even worth the effort to sew! But it magically turned out to be a great scrap quilt!
My quilt top was donated to the guild and was quilted by Becky Fiedler on her domestic machine using a fun swirly design. Can you see the quilted circles and the texture it has on the back of the quilt? So fun!
Then I happily received the quilt back to put the binding on and I had the opportunity to revisit the wonderful variety of scraps in this quilt as I stitched on by. Those border blocks used up sooo many scraps!
Can you see the variety of reds in the binding? It was such a pleasure to use up so many scraps and to see this quilt to the finish line! It has inspired me to move more projects toward completion before I start the guild's summer mystery project (and maybe I should finish last summer's mystery first?!?!) 😜
Welcome to the hand stitching party! And I remembered to be here on time today! I'm so sorry about last week - nothing like hosting a party and forgetting to show up!!
My excuse is that I was attending Stitch North which is a stitching event held in Brampton, Ontario, Canada and hosted by Evertote. It is attended by 225 amazing hand stitchers from all over the world. I was at weekend #1 and there are actually enough attendees to run 2 weekends! At my table we had stitchers from South Dakota and Wisconsin, and at the table beside us there were stitchers from the east and west coast of Canada AND someone from Austria! It was exhilarating, overwhelming, and creatively mind blowing! If you want to hear more about it, you can watch the video I posted this week.
One of the exciting things for me was finishing a project I started last year at Stitch North 2025. The pattern is called Serenity and is by Pansy Patch Quilts and Stitchery This photo is a little washed out, but it shows the overall design well.
I loved every minute of stitching this project and felt so much serenity every time I worked on it! It is stitched on 18 count Roxy Floss aida fabric called "speculaas" (using 1 strand of thread).
The alphabet was delightful to stitch - who knew I liked stitching letters?!? It made me want to start more samplers! I loved the fancy scissors, and the bobbins, and oh the fancy lady's big dress with scissors and threads coming out of her pockets!
And the saying on it is so true... that is all I need is serenity, peace... and stitching of course!
Sometimes when we stitch on so many large projects we forget the joy of a finish!
Finished size: 7.5" x 6.25"
I also finished the binding on a quilt this week and will post about that tomorrow. Very exciting!
Are you having any finishes? Please share them with us... and all the projects that you are working on even if they are not close to a finish!
I'm so sorry everyone, but seriously I forgot it was Sunday. And I was so excited about attending Stitch North that I did not write a scheduled post. WOW!
There will be more to come about my adventure, but for now... here is the link up!
Welcome to Slow Sunday Stitching where we celebrate the art of creating things with our hands. All forms of hand stitching activities are welcome here :)
This week I finished the February Primrose Cottage pattern (called Sweetly Sayin') into a little pillow. The pretty backing fabric is from my daughter's husband's grandmother's stash. I was given a few boxes of her stash and have been using pieces here and there as I can. The stuffing is polyfil.
This was stitched on Roxy Powderpuff 18 count aida fabric with the called for threads. This is not a good photo since it has been such dark and dreary weather here. But trust me - it is so sweet and perfect for next Valentine's Day. Finished size: 5.5" x 4"
I have also been stitching almost daily on the Quick Quaker stitch-a-long from Modern Folk Embroidery. I am using a variety of green threads that we are started to enjoy at the beginning of spring.
The daily videos that Jacob posts are educational and inspiring. One of my favourites so far was when he sang "How can I keep from singing" on Day 10's video. If you go to the 17 minute mark on the video, you can hear him sing this beautiful old hymn of the quakers and he sings all the harmony parts himself! I'll probably listen to it again this morning as I stitch another part of this lovely pattern.
What are you hand stitching today? Do you listen to music as you stitch your projects? LInk up your blog post below and share what you are working on.
Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! Take a few moments to set aside your machines, your devices and screens, and just take a deep breath... ahhh... so much better. Now pick up your needles and fibres, and put a few stitches into your project. You will feel better in no time!
I am looking forward to this afternoon - to putting my feet up, and stitching the day away while I watch the Masters Golf Tournament. I am not a golfer, but I do enjoy the peaceful nature of the Augusta competition, seeing the beautiful green grass and flowers, while spending time stitching. It reminds me that spring is coming soon.
Today I will enjoy stitching more of the Quick Quaker SAL (by Modern Folk Embroidery) in green threads on a tea dyed 18 count aida. Mother Nature puts all the greens on display in the spring and I'm putting them all into this project - the yellowy greens, the blue greens, the olive greens, the forest greens... all of them!
And when I'm caught up with this project, I'll start working on binding the four quilts I picked up from Claudia the long arm quilter at Quilting By Design.
What are you hand stitching today? Are you watching golf today while you stitch?
Welcome to the weekly celebration of the art of slowly stitching by hand! We encourage you to slow down, breathe deeply, take a few stitches, and enjoy seeing the slowly created projects of hand stitching gurus from around the world.
There have been 2 major hand stitching projects for me this week. First, because it is Easter (sending Happy Easter wishes for those who celebrate) I pushed myself to finish an ornament of an Easter Egg.
It was tricky to construct and I used glue (for the first time) to stick the stitched piece to cardboard. Then I cut an egg from a lovely blue fabric for the back, put a piece of batting on each side of the cardboard and glued the two sides together (with a ribbon in the middle so it can hang). Then I hand stitched the two sides together around the edge.
The design is called Easter (Stitch Craft by Mary) and the pattern showed a pink colourway. I changed mine to blue and spent a long (happy) time digging around in my thread collection to find 6 blues from light to dark. It was so delightful to stitch, and because of the design construction and not needing to count much, I made no mistakes at all (very rare)!
The finished size is 3.5" x 4.5" and I am so happy how it turned out. It has 1,985 cross stitches and a few backstitches (which I thought brought some life to the butterfly and the lilies of the valley). And it is finished in time for the Easter Bunny to deliver it!
My second project is for the month of April and is a pattern called "Quick Quaker" by Modern Folk Embroidery. It is a stitch-a-long on instagram and each day you stitch some of the pattern and post your progress (if you want).
I am using a variety of green threads on a tea dyed 18 count aida cloth. The symbolism is the return of green in the spring (all greens go together in nature) and everything growing out of the ground/dirt/brown. I have no idea how it will turn out, or if I will like the end result of my colour choices, but it is very fun everyday to pick a new green and put approximately 150 stitches in. And Jacob from Modern Folk Embroidery is posting a video every day of the SAL.
So that is what I have been up to this week. How about you? Please link up your blog post below and share your projects with us!
Welcome to the weekly linkup that celebrates the art of hand stitching! We are all about pure relaxation, and taking one s l o w stitch at a time.
On Friday I saw a free pattern in the Primrose Cottage newsletter which is a fundraiser (with proceeds going to help a family with medical expenses). I loved it so much that I started it immediately and just couldn't put it down. I woke up on Saturday and resumed stitching until it was done. It wanted to become a pillow, and by the afternoon it was stuffed and finished.
Finished size: 5" x 4.5"
I love how it turned out (much better than the pillow I finished last week) and I will enjoy seeing it on my desk at work.
And then I returned to my regularly scheduled stitching! I have one more side to finish on binding a quilt, and hope to be able to start binding another quilt.
I posted a youtube video summary of my March stitching and you can watch it here.
What are you hand stitching today? Please link up your blog post and share your progress with us!
Every Sunday we roll out the welcome mat for like-minded hand stitchers to gather for a party. Thank you for joining us! We encourage you to get out your hand stitching project and put in a few stitches. Then make yourself a cup of your favourite beverage and visit other hand stitchers around the world to see what they are working on today.
On Friday the calendar told us that the first day of "spring" had arrived, but the weather here has not been cooperating with the calendar.
I have been starting a lot of spring related projects, including this Sampler Seasons: Spring by Blueberry Ridge Designs. I am using "Kiss Kiss" by Roxy Floss and stitching on 18 count "Powderpuff" aida (also by Roxy). The borders were fun and of course I loved stitching the little bird! I'm trying to put in one length of thread each day for the spring season and see how far I can get.
I finished the stitching on "Robins and Raindrops" by Helen Dailey. The name of the project tickles me because there are no birds or rain in this project! It was very fun, especially making the snail and the tiny bees.
I went ahead and made it into a pillow yesterday and I just hate how it turned out!
It is stuffed with polyfil, but I had to pull in the back so much to stitch it closed that it just looks weird - you can't see the ric rac on the top and bottom. I think I'm taking it apart today and see what I can do for a finish I will like better. (The little robin redbreast pillow I made last year).
I saw this on Quilting Gail's blog and I related to it! My quilt studio is a disaster after attending the celebrations for International Quilt Day sponsored by my quilt guild (via zoom). I was sorting scraps and made such a mess that I will likely spend most of today cleaning it up! And I will wear my "work uniform"! 😂😂😂
What are you hand stitching today? Will you be wearing your "uniform"? Link up your update below and share your slow progress with us.
As the snow flies outside my window this weekend, I must admit that I am sick of winter. I am dreaming of warmer days, fresh air, green grass, birds, and flowers. I find myself as busy as a bee, diving into some spring themed projects. I started and finished stitching a pattern from Helen Dailey called "Robins and Raindrops" (scroll to the bottom of the page for the free pattern download). It's a strange name for this project since there are no robins nor are there any raindrops!
But there are lots of flowers and bees and even a snail which I love! It's all about the spring theme and I NEED that right now! It was a very quick and fun stitchery and I'm planning to make it into a cute little pillow this week.
I also finished stitching the first lady in the Flosstube Friends pattern. I am participating in a round robin with 5 other Canadian Flosstubers and we plan to exchange projects at the end of March, and continue to stitch on each other's pieces throughout the year. I loved stitching the pattern in her dress and once it was finished, can you believe that I spotted one missing pink X!?! I'm leaving it that way because perfection is not my goal - I just stitch to enjoy peacefulness and joy!
I also wanted to share that next Saturday is International Quilting Day and if you would like to celebrate the day with my quilt guild (joining together with 2 other local guilds and quilters around the world!), you are most welcome to join our virtual celebration via the Zoom platform. You can access all the information at the Royal City Quilters' Guild website. I am looking forwad to the day and hearing Priscilla Bianchi's presentation on her journey of creating unique textile art.
Please share a link to your blog post so we can enjoy seeing what you are stitching this week!
