Slow Sunday Stitching - August 31, 2025

Not a lot of stitching time this week, what with school starting back up (I am transport and tutor for my grandson).  Carl has a hard semester coming up - Public Speaking for starters.   We'll get through it.

But I did get a couple of hours in on the Floral Tote.  Working on the center set of motifs.  Just four large flowers to go to finish up the embroidery, then there will be lining and probably a zipper so I can use it as a project bag.

Since I'm back in the carpool business, I also got the new charity hat all the way up the start of the crown decreases.

Everybody in the US and Canada, have a safe and happy Labor Day/Bank Holiday weekend!  Everybody have a good week, no matter where you are located. 

Linking up with the SSS crew (current round-up here).

Rotation Changeover - 2025 Rotation #4, Slot #2 (Not Counted Thread)

Ten hours on the Floral Tote has made substantial progress.   There is still the large central bouquet yet to do and then I do want to line the piece and maybe do a zipper top so that I can use it as a project bag.  

The lining will protect the back of the embroidery as well. 

Now on to the Just Nan piece "Butterflies, Blossoms and Bees".  I'm still working in the outer border - butterflies with Smyrna Cross bodies this time. 

Slow Sunday Stitching - June 29, 2025

I have not mentioned it yet, but I am moving soon.  The rest of June and most of July will be a bit weird and busy.   The renovation on my parent's house will be to the point where I can move in.  There will still be things to do, of course, and I have not yet booked the movers.  But VERY soon - maybe as soon as after the 4th of July holiday!  

I have had the living room, dining room (those two are the green second from the left on the bottom row) and kitchen (the tan right above the green) repainted, and some minor updates done on the main bathroom.   Plus got some of the floors redone on the first floor (see behind the paint sample brochure - century-old hardwoods and so pretty).  The big renovation is to get the laundry moved up to the main floor mud room from the basement.

I've been thinking about this move since before COVID but ended up renting the big house out at the urging of my daughter in law.  That was mostly because I was still working full time and didn't have the band width for a move, but I've discovered that I'm not happy being a landlord.   When my current renters had a family emergency that caused them to break their lease early, I took advantage to finally move in myself.  I'll get my little house updated over the next year or two and get it sold.   I discussed which one to sell with my son, my grandson and my sister and we decided to keep the 'family house'.   

It will be nice to eventually have a dedicated sewing space, though it will be rough finished for a while.  There was a flood in the second-floor bathroom above and both rooms are currently just untaped drywall.  I can live with that - one of those walls will be covered with peg board and have a big cutting table covering most of the space and there will be a design wall covering another.  Getting the upstairs bathroom done is priority, even over getting the little house ready for sale. 

In addition to getting all my books packed up, the main focus this week was the surface embroidery on the Floral Tote.   I am almost at the ten-hour point.   I'm hoping to have a changeover post later today or first thing tomorrow.    I think I can probably finish that bottom section of three flowers, which will leave the main central flowers for next round.  

I've also been keeping up with both the daily temperature log and the #WIPintoshape challenge piece (which is my Mead Dragon).   I'll take end of month photos this week and share next Sunday.  

The next focus project will be the Just Nan "Butterflies, Blossoms and Bees", which will finish this rotation.   But needlework may be scarce and scattered for the next couple of weeks after the Independence Day holiday.   I'm going to focus on the daily goals only, plus finishing.   And I do have a planned start for "Christmas in July".

I'll keep reporting in, if only to prove I haven't been lost under an avalanche of packing boxes LOL.  Checking in with the SSS crew (this week's round up).

I am confused by the Unicorn instructions

 I was happy to see that the directions and materials stayed with the canvas on the Unicorn Pillow.   This is making it possible to finish a project that was in UFO state for four decades (from the early 1980s to today).  

But in addition to the stitch guide issue that I mentioned in the introduction post, I have hit a bit of an odd instruction.

don't you love the mimeograph directions with the hand written edit

 

"Outline Stitch", yes, I know what that is.  But the actual directions are for STEM stitch (thread below the needle when stitching from left to right).   Mary Corbet's tutorial for OUTLINE stitch clearly states to keep the working thread ABOVE the needle when stitching left to right.   There's a LOT of "outline stitch" in this piece - used as a filler as well as the actual outlining in crewel wool, which takes the place of backstitching in counted cross stitch.

As I look at the cover photo, it gets even more complicated.  Some of the lines have the characteristic 'rope' look of stem stitch, while other lines are less defined, so outline.  The Persian Wool is S twist, so Stem Stitch will make the 'rope', which I like the look of.    

I'll just say that the editor wasn't a stickler for nomenclature and to be honest, the two stitches are often used interchangeably by needle-workers, sometimes even in the same piece!  The reason that I try to not make that mistake is that I got down graded on a 4H Fair submission for it once.  Nothing like getting a red instead of a blue ribbon to make one pay attention!

Now What?

 I am on the very last step (the actual cutwork) part of the last napkin.  So it is time to determine what will come up next in the 'other than counted thread' slot of my rotation and get it set up so that when this slot comes around again in Rotation #3, I can start right away!   

I have three potential projects.   The oldest one is more cutwork - the 'big brother' of the blue dresser scarf that I aquired in the 1970s. Same pattern as the finished one below, just longer.

Next oldest is from 1981.   A pillow top in a mix of media - traditional painted canvas and crewel on canvas.   My granddaughter is still in the 'pink and frilly' stage, so I could see her liking it. (Size is 14 x 14 finished)

And lastly is a crewel project (from 1983) that barely made it through the triage when I found the bin of UFOs a while back.  I just couldn't QUITE make myself pitch it when I pitched or donated three other crewel projects.  (FYI, the orange-brown bits will be pine greens in the finished piece.)   Thinking I could frame this one for either my son or grandson.  (size about 16 x 20)

I am sort of leaning towards working on the unicorn pillow first (even though it is the least far along) because with my luck Alexis will hit the 'dark and broody Goth stage' early and not be interested in a pink and pale blue unicorn pillow much longer LOL. 

Anybody want to pitch in pros/cons, thoughts?   I'm not in love with any of them, but also don't hate any of them. 

Slow Sunday Stitching - March 23, 2019

Rainy night with a 3 am thunderstorm.   Ugh.  I don't mind the rain, it's rather nice to be cuddled under a quilt or two with the rain pattering on the roof.   But I object to the lightening!   I live in an older neighborhood (my house will be 100 years old next year), and it seems like we have a transformer hit almost every time the weather gets like this.   Surge protectors for EVERYTHING!!!  (And a treadle LOL.  Yes, I have pieced by candle and lantern light more than once.   Rather "Little House on the Prairie".)

The Zombie Kitten pillowcase embroidery is coming along.   I'm not really tracking time on this project like I usually do, because this will be my embroidery project until it is done.   I'm not going to let this thing linger.   I got the majority of the body of the kitten done, and started on the ball of yarn.   This design is not well executed; there are many, many short, jagged lines that make up the kitten's fur and the wrapping of the yarn in the ball.  Some of them are so short that they are essentially seed stitch.   I'm using outline stitch for most of the work, with those few seed stitches.  The eyes and nose will be satin stitch. 

I also cast on a new knitting project - a headband to match an old cowl.   I'm trying to use up some of the old, bulky acrylic yarn in my stash.  This yarn is actually much prettier knitted up than it is in the ball - just the opposite of many multicolored yarns.

Well, it's stopped thundering, and we didn't loose power.   I'm going back to bed.   When I wake up again, I'll link up with the rest of the Slow Sunday Stitching crew - hopefully they've all had a more pleasant night.  ETA:  Here's this week's round up!

Slow Sunday Stitching - March 17, 2019

Not even an hour this week on the zombie kitties, I'm afraid.   I spent most of my crafting time working on things are not Slow Stitching.  

But at least it's a start of sorts

I do like the Hardwicke Manor hoop.   It has a slot in the adjustment screw, so you can take a small screwdriver and get it really nice and tight.  There's very little slipping of the fabric.  

I do think I'll like surface embroidery more with a better ground fabric.  This poly-cotton is very thin compared to my vintage pillowcases. 

 
Also did a couple of rounds on my colorwork sweater.  But most of the week was working on the old house - packing etc.

I will never hit the end of the Unfinished Object Pile at this rate.  I found another bin.   This one has un-quilted tops in it.   Four of them, and a bunch of finished but not finishing finished needlework, some of which will be finished as quilted wall hangings.  Most of them will be done by machine, but this one and one wall hanging will be hand quilted.

Once I get moved and get the quilt frame set up, this one will be hand quilted - by the piece in the blocks with feather circles in the plain squares and a wavy feather border.   What's weird is that I do not really remember making this top.   The notes are mine, the quilting plan is in my handwriting.  The leftovers from that blue on the left went into "It was 80s", and another blue is definitely from my grandmother's stash of vintage 30s and 40s prints.   I'm willing to bet I made this when JC was a baby and my short term memory wasn't logging much LOL.  

I would really LOVE to get started on this one, but I don't want to try to take down my frame and move it with a quilt on it.  That's could be a problem.
So this one will 'hibernate' until well after the move, unfortunately.   The wall hanging may actually get done first, since I can do it in a large hoop. 

I've been inspired to get back into hand quilting by the wonderful examples in the Slow Sunday Stitching round up (link to this week's link up).