Slow Sunday Stitching New Year's Eve

Welcome to the last Slow Sunday Stitching link up for 2017! It has been another wonderful year of being inspired by your beautiful hand stitched projects each Sunday. I thank you for sharing your blog posts, and for every encouraging comment you took the time to write to another stitcher over the course of the year.

Not much hand stitching has been going on here over the holidays. There has been a lot of game playing, jigsaw puzzling, cooking, and visiting. I did have a bit of time to finish the hand applique on block #34 for my Blockheads project. The front door is a little wonky but I like it that way. 


As a follow up to the December saga of trying to knit earbud pouches for my nieces and nephews, I totally abandoned the project and was bailed out by my friend Wendy. These are the pouches she knit for me to give to my family. They were a big hit and some day I'm going to learn how to make them myself!


The last of my holiday visitors are leaving to travel home today, so I will have some time to relax, to stitch, and to visit your blogs and see what projects you are stitching on this last day of 2017. 
Happy New Year!

   

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Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly link up for hand stitchers! Make yourself a cup of tea or coffee and visit the links below for some creative inspiration. I'll be drinking day #17 of my David's tea advent calendar while I visit my favourite hand stitching blogs today. Each flavour has been enjoyable, but I think the "raspberry cream pie" was the most delicious so far!
Here's an update on my secret Christmas idea...

I wanted to knit earbud pockets for all my nieces and nephews for Christmas. It was a dismal failure. I tried really hard to learn circular knitting and I wanted it to look like the pocket on the left which my friend Wendy made. My version is on the right. Ugh.
I tried to push myself to knit every day in order to meet the deadline so I could create something wonderful for my Christmas gifts. But truly it was not enjoyable at all. It was stressful and I want to avoid stress, not create more of it in my life. It was a great gift idea that was not to be!

So I am back to hand quilting my oldest UFO today. It's so enjoyable, relaxing, peaceful, and soothing....
just the way hand stitching projects should be! Yesterday I finished quilting this block. It was very festive using the red and green threads!

What are you hand stitching today? Are your Christmas projects progressing well, or do you have a story like mine of projects gone astray! Only one more week... no pressure! Link up your blog post below and share your hand stitching with us.

   

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Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to Slow Sunday Stitching! 
We meet here every Sunday to celebrate the art of all varieties of hand stitching. If it involves a needle or 2 and thread and stitching taken with your hands, we want to know about it!



I have taken out my winter hand quilting project. It has the ceremonious distinction of being my oldest UFO and has been in progress since 1996, so it's 21 years old! I still really like it and enjoy quilting the blocks. I can't help but wonder if 2018 might be it's last year as a UFO?

This is a big quilt, and it's heavy and warm, so it's perfect to work on at this time of year. I have set up my little quilting corner and put this UFO in my oval floor frame. It's a cozy little spot where I listen to iTunes and hand quilt when I have a few moments to relax. This is where I will be, putting in a few stitches to start the day.
What are you hand stitching today? Share with us the project you are working on by linking up your blog post below.
Happy Slow Sunday Stitching everyone!



   

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Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly link up that celebrates the art of hand stitching! We hope you will make time today to put some stitches into your project and enjoy the benefits of relaxing hand work.



This week I finished hand stitching 282" of binding on my 2016 Aurifil BOM quilt. It's one of my favourite hand stitching tasks, so the time was very enjoyable. 

While I stitched, I watched the Bletchley Circle on Netflix. My friend Sandy's Mom was a Bletchley girl and that gave me added interest in watching the 7 episode series. There was more violence than I usually tolerate in what I chose to watch, but I continued with it since it was inspiring to watch brilliant women solve mysteries, and hold people and organizations accountable.

Today I will be working on my top secret Christmas knitting project. I finished the first prototype and learned how to do the Kitchener stitch. 
I couldn't understand the written pattern instructions, so watched a few examples on Youtube before I found the perfect instructional video by Purl Soho. I was able to follow her instructions, but my efforts did not turn out right because I had the pieces inside out. I put knit sides together instead of purl sides together. The end result is definitely not giftable, but I do hope that piece #2 will turn out much better. 
What are you hand stitching today? Are your efforts resulting in satisfactory outcomes? Are you making any gifts for Christmas? Link up your blog post below and share your hand stitching project with us.

   

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Slow Sunday Stitching

Thanks for dropping by the weekly hand stitching party where we're all about needles, threads, fabric, inspiration and self care! There is no advertising here, no black friday sales, no machines to give us grief, and no stress whatsoever! It's just pure relaxation, taking deep breaths, and taking one slow stitch at a time. 


I am trying to work on Christmas gifts for my nieces and nephews. Every year I make little gifts for them, everything from photo calendars, fabric bags, pillows, luggage tags, to fabric bowls, mug mats, and pillowcases. It's a challenge I enjoy, trying to think of something special to make, and then making about a dozen of the same thing. Doesn't this look like a Christmas wreath?  
It's not supposed to!

This year I'm knitting a special gift (to remain nameless in case I can't actually figure it out!) My knitting ninja friend Gayle has been teaching me how to knit on 4 needles. Knitting with 4 needles actually means knitting with 5. The stitches sit on 4 of the needles and 1 of them is a transition needle. It's very complicated! 

And my FNSI "friends" recently freaked me out by calculating the number of items I have to make and the number of days there are left until Christmas... yikes! It means that I have to finish one item every 2 days for the next month. Take a deep breath. Breathe in. Breathe out.
Slow Sunday Stitching is stress free!

What are you hand stitching today? Are you working on any hand made gifts for Christmas and starting to wonder if chosing a slow stitching project was a wise choice?!?! LOL
Link up your blog post below and share your progress with us.

   

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Slow Sunday Stitching Medicine

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! 
This week I have been thinking about stitching as medicine. The process of taking repetitive stitches, slowing the breath, being only in this moment, and concentrating on a simple task engages the parasympathetic nervous system in a way that nothing else does. It forces the body to relax and to heal. It's called the "rest and digest" or "relaxed and content" state, and for me there is no quicker way to achieve that state than by hand stitching. 
Today I need to calm down and relax. My Dad had emergency surgery this week, and thankfully he is doing amazingly well today, but once the crisis passes, you start to recognize that the stress of worry takes a toll on everyone who loves him. 
When I am concentrating only on taking my next stitch, I am not worrying about whether my Dad is going to live or die. I can finally relax and start to feel healthier myself.
I'll be stitching down the binding on the baby quilt I made last week. This is my favourite hand stitching activity, so I will really enjoy my slow stitching time!

What are you hand stitching today? 
Please share your project with us and link up your blog post below.




   

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Slow Sunday Stitching - Lighting

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! We invite you to settle in for some relaxation, visit our inspiring stitchers at the links below, and take some time to put a few stitches in one of your favourite projects.



Since the time change last weekend, I've been reminded that at some times of the year, most of my hand stitching is done in the dark. Which means that proper lighting is a very important consideration since I plan to be hand stitching my way through the cold, dark winter. I'm trying to learn how to knit on 4 needles and am having a terrible time reading the instructions and seeing the stitches. Just look at this mess! 
Oh dear... and there is a lot of counting involved! 

I enjoyed reading Teresa's blog post this week on the same topic of lighting (read it here) and found it interesting to see some of her lighting solutions. I'm on the lookout for one of the "Beam 'n Read" lamps that Teresa recommends. 

There are lamps beside every stitching spot in my house, but I also have a few extra lamps that have become my favourites, because one light is just not enough! I had a portable Ott light that I really liked, but the bulb burned out and I have yet to find a reasonably priced replacement bulb. 

Mostly I am using my favourite Ikea lamp .

The winter hand quilting project reappears!

Convenient features:
*the base is solid and heavy which makes it secure and not easily toppled.
*the goose neck is flexible and can be focused right on your stitching area.
*it gives a nice pool of perfect light to work in. 

Inconvenient features: 
*this is a plug in lamp, so you must be near an electrical outlet to use it
*you need to be sitting near a table to set the lamp on



I also like this portable lamp (with no identifiable brand name) that is sold in quilting stores around here. 
Convenient features:
*it charges itself from the computer and provides direct light right over my hand stitching.
*it folds completely flat, is lightweight and is a great take-along light source. 

Inconvenient features:
*it requires a flat surface to sit on and because it is lightweight, it's quite tippy. I usually use it when stitching at a table, and I can sometimes balance it on my lap. I have also been known to prop it up over my shoulder when sitting in waiting rooms with poor lighting, and have also set it on top of a stack of pillows in hotel rooms with terrible lighting.
*the charge doesn't last very long with maybe about 1/2 hour of light, which is not nearly long enough for my hand stitching needs!

And while you are thinking about your favourite lighting solutions, you can enjoy James Taylor singing with the Lowcountry Voices "Shine a little Light".

 If you have a lighting suggestion to share with us, we are all ears (to help our eyes)! We want to stitch all winter long!
Link up your blog post with your lighting ideas and/or share your suggestions in the comment section below.

   

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Slow Sunday Stitching

Last night we turned our clocks back one hour because it is the end of Daylight Saving Time. Which only means that we all get one extra hour of time. Well, we don't really, but we delude ourselves into thinking this is a real thing. The sun is not actually taking one hour longer to rotate around the earth today. 
But don't we all talk about wanting more time to get things done? 
What did you do with the "extra hour" you were given this weekend? I would like to say that I used the extra hour for hand stitching, but truthfully I just slept longer! 

Today I will be working on more alternate blocks for my Life Is Beautiful quilt. Here are the 6 that I've quilted so far. 

When starting to quilt my latest block, I noticed that the sandwich felt quite thick in the middle. I unpinned the block and separated the layers, and realized that I had forgotten to cut away the fabric circle behind the applique. Why didn't I notice that when I was pin basting the block??!

So I cut away the excess fabric behind the appliqued circle, re-basted the sandwich, and started again.
I can't really blame it on sleep deprivation since I had a whole extra hour of sleep!


What are you hand stitching today? 
We don't want to know what your sewing machine is working on. Here at Slow Sunday Stitching we are "old school" and want to know about "your people power" projects which involve only your needles, threads, scissors, and your very own hands. 

   

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Slow Sunday Stitching

Happy Slow Sunday Stitching! 
It's time to pick up your hand stitching project and put in some stitches. You will immediately notice the health benefits of breathing more slowly, clearing your mind to focus on a simple task, and feeling more relaxed as you enjoy creating more stitches in a project that you have chosen. Even if you just put in a few stitches, you will benefit, and your project will be closer to completion. 
Today's post is a Life is Beautiful update.
I have been working consistently on this quilt since February 2015 and have written 55 blog posts about it already! It's truly a S L O W stitching project (pattern designer is Helen Stubbings) and is chock full of different types of hand stitching including embroidery, applique and quilting, all done one stitch at a time.

It is a 63 block quilt and here are the 24 blocks I have finished so far. The top left part of the photo shows how the layout will look with the embroidered blocks and the alternate 4 patch circle blocks. For some unknown reason I have only finished 4 of those blocks to date, so I prepped 4 more to hand quilt this week.

Slow Down!

I love this project because it reminds me of the values to which I aspire, and it's a reminder that wonderful projects get created one stitch at a time. I do not feel any pressure to finish this project within a certain time frame. 
It takes as long as it takes. 
I have all the time I need.
*deep breath* 

So now we want to know what you are hand stitching today. Last Sunday we had over 30 wonderful blog posts to enjoy reading! I love visiting all the link ups every week when I am home on a Sunday. There are 2 blogs that I can't leave a comment on because the Google Plus feature is not compatible with my computer. So I want to say to Paul and to Jocelyn how much I appreciate you linking up to Slow Sunday Stitching and wish I could leave a comment to encourage you in your slow stitching projects.

   

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Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! 
Make yourself a cup of tea or coffee to enjoy while visiting the blog links of stitchers around the world. It's so inspiring to see what other people are creating with their own two hands.
I am slowly making progress on the hand quilting of my Life Is Beautiful blocks. This is the block I will be finishing today.



And in knitting news, I gave up on the baby sweater I have been working on forever. I took this project camping with me and somehow all the stitches fell off the needles. 
ALL the stitches! 
OFF the needles! 
And well, it's just too hard of a pattern for me to figure out how to put the stitches back on the needles, and I'd gone too far to unravel it and start the whole thing over. So I had to call 911 Knitter (aka my friend Gayle). Hopefully she will be able to restore some kind of stitch order so that I will be able to finish this baby sweater in my lifetime.

And I'm learning how to knit a little tiny pouch for ear buds. See the one that my friend Wendy gave me last year? I just love it and use it all the time, so I wanted to try to make one. Here are the needles and the wool. Hopefully this is (much) easier than the sweater. It's my first time knitting with 4 needles and I'm excited to try something new. Worse case scenario is I don't like it and/or make a big mess, and then I will just drop off the wool and needles at my friend Gayle's house! 
What are you hand stitching today? Are you having success or do you need a little help from your friends?

   

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Slow Sunday Stitching

A big welcome to all you hand stitching aficionados! 
This is the weekly link up to share your projects with other stitchers around the world who truly appreciate how long it really takes to create the kind of treasures that you are working on.


This is the view where I was slowing down with my hand stitching last weekend. I loved the sound of the water rushing over the rapids. The leaves were a range of beautiful colours and the sun was brilliant. It could not have been a more perfect day to stitch in the sun.  

quilting is finished on another embroidered block

I have been working on my Life is Beautiful project for two and a half years. In February, my project will celebrate it's 3rd birthday. That's just how it goes with hand stitching. Projects take a long time and progress slowly. We learn to appreciate how this process of making stitches with our own hands forces us to slow down our heartbeat, our days, and our lives.

quilting is finished on 4 alternate blocks

There are 63 blocks in my quilt, 32 of which are hand embroidered and 31 are alternate blocks. The embroidery is finished and I am hand quilting all the blocks individually (to join them in a quilt-as-you-go way when they are ready). I have finished quilting 18 of the embroidery blocks (past the half way point ... woohoo!) and have also finished quilting these 4 alternate blocks (not anywhere near the half way point!)
But my progress is slow and steady... just how I like it!

So what are you hand stitching today? Link up your blogpost and share your slow progress with us!




   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly link up for hand stitching enthusiasts! Today is Thanksgiving here in Canada and I am thankful for so many things, including this international community of enthusiastic and talented hand stitchers! Whether you post your projects in the link ups, or you encourage others in their long term, slow stitching endeavours, or you are stitching along quietly on your own hand stitching projects making your corner of the world calmer and more beautiful, we are thankful for YOU!

I have enjoyed finishing the bindings on three quilts over the past week (Tetris quilt, baby quilt, and miniature quilt). Binding is my favourite kind of hand stitching so it's no surprise that I quickly finished it all.
And now, having no other bindings to stitch, I'm back to hand quilting my Life is Beautiful blocks. 
I have finished a few of the alternate circle blocks (the ones with no embroidery). I'm very happy with how they are looking and have a couple more blocks ready for stitching today.

What's your hand stitching project? Take some time to put in a few stitches today and be thankful for this wonderful hobby we enjoy! 

   

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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 time each Sunday for some relaxing stitching on your favourite project. Pick up a needle and thread, breathe deeply, and enjoy a few moments of restful stitching.


This week I finished a quilt that was 5 years old (see the finished Tetris quilt here). I enjoyed stitching down the binding on my lunch hour, sitting on a bench at the park. So many employees will sit at a desk and stare at their phone screen for their lunch "break". That does not relax my body or brain. But hand stitching does! It is a meditative process that immediately calms me. I enjoyed sitting in the sun, breathing fresh air, and feeling renewed with creative energy. 

I also put in some binding stitches at my weekly date with my parents. It is our tradition to watch "Dancing With the Stars" together and I like to have a hand stitching project to work on during the commercials. 

Since that project is finished, today I'll be back to working on my Life is Beautiful blocks. Here are the quilted blocks on the design wall.

I have a few more alternate blocks prepped and ready to start stitching. When they are all quilted, I will join them together using the quilt-as-you-go technique.

What are you working on today? Link up your blog post below and tell us about your hand stitching progress so we can cheer you on! 

   

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Slow Sunday Stitching

Wow that past week just flew by and it's Sunday again already! 
Welcome to Slow Sunday Stitching! I haven't even visited the 30 fabulous links from last week yet. Sometimes there is just not enough time to do all the fun things we want to do. But I always make the time on Sundays for a few relaxing moments with my needle and thread.

We have been enjoying such fabulous fall weather here that it has been hard to stay indoors and sew. I did buckle down and get the binding attached on my Berenstain Bears baby quilt. I was so happy I had enough of that great yellow with orange dots binding fabric to get all the way around the quilt. I enjoyed some hand stitching time while watching QuiltCam this week and got one side of the binding finished. It is looking good to hopefully finish the quilt this week!
What are you hand stitching today?

   

    An InLinkz Link-up