woolythyme

a week of slow stitching...

A week of slow stitching....is slow.  I don't have much to show for it. And I'm fine with that.  This little lap quilt is growing on me, even though I've done absolutely everything wrong.  

This may have been a kit.  I forget.  The colours are all wrong for me and my house, but I really like them; someone did a nice job of choosing them, it just wasn't me.  When I cut the squares, I paid absolutely no attention to grain of the material.  I didn't pay any attention to the slight stripey pattern.  The squares are all wonky.  But it's OK.  I also failed to pre-wash the fabric.  Is this really a cardinal sin in sewing?  Ignorance is bliss, and I'm pretty blissful at the moment, so please don't ruin it for me.  (I 'found' it this far assembled while gathering all my 'sewing' stuff for our new addition/renovation.  How many years ago was this started? Beats me.)

And my quilting!  eep!  I thought I'd try a little kantha-look and started the running stitches rather close together.  Too close.  So after the first block was quilted, I simply followed the horizontal seam lines.  Now the stitch lines are too far apart.  I'm 'filling' in.  I think you are supposed to start at one end and quilt to the other....not hop all over the place.  The back isn't real pucker-y, just a little.  Maybe when it's washed, those puckers will shrink out since I didn't preshrink. (Now that would be a happy coincidence!)  I have about 5 more lines to quilt, then I'll add some kind of binding.  I have no idea how to do this, either, so I'll wing it like the rest of the project.  (My fingers are totally chewed up at this point....I never learned how to sew with a thimble.  Knitting is FAR kinder to my hands!)

 

I faithfully stuck to my February stitch journal (yep, a WHOLE week---don't hold your breath that this will last the whole month!).  Just a few stitches every day, the colour of the day inspired by the early morning sky.  I had no intention to be representational and yet that seems to be happening.  How could I not stitch in the flock of geese migrating?  Or the bird seed flying from the feeders and covering the patio?  A bright yellow goldfinch swept onto a feeder a few minutes ago....yellow might appear on the linen today.

slow, steady...no destination, no 'end'.....a process not a product.  Fun.

Slow stitching....

This was probably my favorite book purchased in 2015.  I've read it cover to cover (twice) and have swooned over every single photo.  Whether it is the inspiration here....or a need for a mini-break from knitting, I've had this almost manic need to stitch.  In this book the author distinguished stitching from embroidery....embroidery following a printed pattern, stitching more free form (I think it was here, although at the moment I've been unable to find where I read this!!!)  I've embroidered many times before.  I've 'stitched' very little.  As Claire Wellesley-Smith states in the intro...slow stitching is a mindset, valuing quality over quantity.  She introduces many ways to slow textile work down....  

one of which is Stitch Journals.  I thought this would be fun---for a month?  I'm realistic enough to know that I most likely will be ready to move on to something else soon.  January was the month of Sweaters (yes, yes, I know, I said 2016 was going to be the YEAR of sweaters, but ...changed my mind!   I knit three....for hubby, for Freddy, for me.  I'm done with sweaters for awhile!) So, February is now declared (sound official?) Slow Stitch Month.  My stitch journal inspiration will be the view from my kitchen window...primarily the sky.  One dominant color a day....random stitching to reflect it.  

Would anyone like to stitch along?  

I got a rather late start today....I had so many beautiful colors to pick from in the early morning sky, but by late afternoon when I had gathered all my supplies*, we had a perfectly blue, clear sky.  Not a cloud in sight. So, blue it is!

 

 

 

*I'm mostly using Presencia's Finca perle cotton #8, a 100% extra long staple Egyptian cotton.  There are a few DMCs in the mix, too.  Stitching on grey linen. No plan.  Just random stitching.

 

 

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Thank you all so much for your kind words about the blog.....and comments about Facebook. (The blog was always going to stay....I have much too much fun rambling on here!!!---and Lordy, Fred needs an outlet!; it was just the Facebook access that I thought I might change.)  I'm convinced, though, to leave things alone....at least for now.  I did get onto my Facebook page (eep !!!!!!!), and I noticed that all my posts are NOT getting there.  You  may want to scroll around once you make the blog connection, since some of you seem to really care!!!!  (...and Phyllis, you don't have to start a petition!   too funny!)