Last stitch of 2019!

So, I can't believe it but I was able to finish my Project a Month goal for 2019 on Feeling Stitchy! (see My Year in Review here)

I fell very much behind in August, thanks to a variety of challenges, physical and emotional, but I was able to catch up in November and December. I finished up my very last project of 2019, which I started on December 20, this lovely Noel pattern by Slow Evenings on Etsy.



What a gorgeous pattern this is, and so well-designed! Read my full write-up on the pattern on Feeling Stitchy:
http://www.feelingstitchy.com/2019/12/project-month-noel-pattern-by-slow.html



I switched up the colors a tiny bit, since my fabric choice was neither light nor dark, but a medium tone in between. I chose the dark green lettering, and I think it was a good choice - I absolutely love the texture on these letters - I think what I did was a combination of split stitch and long and short, not technically either but both.



I adored this finished project - I love the way the little berry French knots pop against the linen background - I used 3 strands of floss, wrapped twice around the needle...



Isn't the texture delicious?



Lastly, I wrapped the embroidery hoop in a cute polka dot ribbon to finish it off. I was finished on Christmas Eve, just in time to give it away on Christmas Day!

A worthy project to end 2019 on, and to close out my final posts on Feeling Stitchy!

What's Next?

I'm sure I will continue to stitch and craft, but the time of focusing exclusively on embroidery and blogging about it has come to a close. I feel free to express my creativity in whatever way I choose now!



One of the things I have been enjoying SO MUCH lately is ink and pens, and as of December, Calligraphy!

Calligraphy Resources I Recommend

Beginning Calligraphy Class on Creativebug

It all started with a Creativebug class by Maybelle Imasa-Stukuls called Beginning Calligraphy. I was wowed by Maybelle's simple, gorgeous style, and her approach to teaching is so calming. I really liked her idea of embracing your "mistakes" and just taking joy in making lettering that looks handmade. It made learning so much more fulfilling!

If you must start anywhere, my advice is start with Maybelle's class!

Find the Right Tools

Sumi ink with a Nikko G nib was perfect for me - but I started out with materials that frustrated me, so I want to save you the aggravation and just say - start with these! I've filled pages and pages with practice lines and Maybelle's lovely alphabet, and every time it has been so restful.

Beginner's Modern Calligraphy Class by The Postman's Knock

Another wonderful value has been the Beginner's Modern Calligraphy course by The Postman's Knock - all through my break I slowly worked through the lessons, and her tips have been so helpful!

Free Worksheets and Drills on Kallialitheia

Another lovely free resource are these ornament drills on www.kallialitheia.com/ - her Instagram account is very inspiring!

Books: Mastering Modern Calligraphy by Molly Suber-Thorpe

For Christmas, I was gifted Mastering Modern Calligraphy by Molly Suber-Thorpe - and I spent hours going through her inspiring tips and lettering.

This book is good for someone who already has a grounding in calligraphy, so I'm saving some of this for when I've got more practice under my belt...

Books: The Gift of Calligraphy by Maybelle Imasa-Stukuls

I was also gifted The Gift of Calligraphy by Maybelle Imasa-Stukuls, and this is a GORGEOUS book!

Again and again, I come back to the Maybelle alphabet as an inspiration, here I've worked it in white ink and dark scrapbook paper...

Dinky dip set from Caracol Creative

I ordered a dinky dip set of inks from Caracol Creative - I think it was a wonderful value and has been so helpful in keeping my work area neat and tidy.





The Gold ink was just fabulous!



I spent countless hours over the break, filling pages with words I love - this has been the most fun exercise...

Free Flourishing class on Loveleigh Loops

I am currently working on a free Flourishing class called Simple to Spectacular on www.loveleighloops.com/.





Flourishing doesn't come naturally to me, so I'm enjoying learning and extending my skills...



What a fabulous time I've had! So, yes, I will still be around, working on projects that stimulate my interest, although I'm not sure how much I will blog about it. I'm so grateful for all the time you've spent with me, and I hope 2020 blesses you thoroughly with new skills and inspiration!

Dreaming of green

Here I am again, I know it's been awhile, just wanted to say hello and share a few images I'm enjoying lately - mostly I love when I am attracted to the same colors, over and over, unconsciously, in this case lime green.

I've been doing well, post-chemo - a lot of mysterious aches and pains, but every time I Google them, they seem to be normal side effects of women post-chemo. So, I'm just trying to bear with it, and each day I do feel stronger. Had a lot of pain in my hands last month, I've never had arthritis, but I imagine that's what it feels like. This month it's my knee and the ball of my foot, I just joke that chemo left me (I hope temporarily) with the body of an 80 year old.

Aside from that, I am keeping inspired - taking Karen Barbe's class on Color Theory on Domestika, finishing my Final project for that class (in lime green, as you see above), also taking Lisa Congdon's Creative Boot Camp class on Creativebug, which is SO MUCH fun, and starting on my next Project a Month for Feeling Stitchy. I'll give you a hint what the dominant color is on that one... lime green! :)

Hope you all are keeping well and inspired this Spring!

"Secret" Embroidery on Feeling Stitchy

Well, I finally posted the results of my "secret" embroidery project.

The project was a wedding embroidery for my cousin, AND a review of the new DMC Stitchable Mesh fabric. The finished post is on Feeling Stitchy: http://www.feelingstitchy.com/2016/12/review-dmc-stitchable-mesh-and-pattern.html

Stitching on the mesh was a wonderful experience, but it did have its challenges, all of which I go into in my post.

My favorite part was probably the sheen of it - it makes everything look like it's glowing - and layering fabric underneath creates an added "floating" effect.

Here is my finished project - a lovely wedding hoop:

I'm doing a very special giveaway on Feeling Stitchy - if you like the pattern I used for the embroidery, I'll create a custom pattern, with the names of your choices, for two winners!

I haven't gotten a lot of entries so far, but I'm still very excited to create a pattern for the people who have responded. Please add your name to the comments, if you're interested!

What do you think of the mesh and my project? Please leave a comment to let me know. :)

Vote embroidery for Feeling Stitchy

I had so much fun stitching up this free Vote pattern for Feeling Stitchy. It all started with Twitterfeed shutting down as of today, and me wondering how people find the blog the most.

So I crunched as many numbers as possible, but also thought it would be fun to let everyone "vote" from the particular place they were seeing the blog - Twitter, Blogger, Facebook, and Instagram.

I had 3 designs, that were all only different in terms of the fonts I used, and allowed peeps to vote. Boy, was Twitter quiet - I decided we haven't been using it as well as we could, by simply auto-posting. I'll try to be more diligent about visiting at least once a week with a more substantial presence. Facebook was also rather quiet - it could have just been the time of day. Instagram had the most votes. Honestly, I didn't even try Flickr, because it has been very quiet lately.

Stitching made me a bit nervous, as I wanted to finish on Saturday - so I woke up bright and early and lined up some coffee to get stitching the winning design. I could have added a whole lot more, but I wanted to stay true to the way I originally drew the design. I guess it was a lesson in designing, too!

This project was a lot of fun, for sure, and I followed it up by actually voting yesterday. If you haven't voted yet, please do! And if you'd like a copy of the free pattern, visit Feeling Stitchy! :)

Secret embroidery project

I'm calling it a secret project because I don't want to reveal too many details in case the receiver of this gift reads this blog! :) I'm working on a beautiful DMC gold mesh for the first time ever (which I received from the lovely people at DMC). It has been a bit of a challenge to stitch on, but remarkably well-suited to stitches like couching and split stitch, with which I worked that nice "L".

Mostly, this transparent surface has taught me the value of keeping the back of my work nice and neat (something I'll admit I've never fussed about before).

Once again, I have found Mary Corbet's Needle n' Thread posts invaluable in learning tips and tricks. This post on lettering in particular helped me moved away from messy knots on the back of my work.



Here are the threads I've chosen for my secret project - all DMC, with the exception of the one Nun's Boilproof skein (which I haven't used yet, but is there for its vintage prettiness). :)

It's been wonderful fun so far, and I'll reveal the results to you next week! :)

Finished winter wreath

After many hours of stitching and imagining and re-tracing, I am done! This project was one of the most fun I've ever attempted - I think part of it was all the encouragement I received on Instagram that kept me plugging along week after week.



I finished the back as neatly as possible, but I purposely made the stitches a bit long and loose, in case the back ever needs to be removed for repair or to re-stretch the embroidery.



I won't lie, I struggled a bit with the tiny date - I re-stitched it countless times, but I like this simple, very small, un-fussy version. I used DMC gold thread, just one strand for the date.



Overall, this is one of the projects I am most happy with - a real pleasure to stitch. I expanded my stitch library and used stitches in ways I hadn't before - it was well worth the extra challenge. I'll have a review as soon as possible up on Feeling Stitchy - which I'll link to from here, of course, if you'd like to see it! :)

Winter wreath - almost finished

I'm almost finished and I have to say I am really happy with this project. Up above, you see my progress with adding initials in the center.



I stitched the berries using 1 strand of DMC rayon floss in a shiny copper color - 30434 - Sepia Brown.



The finished berries - I love the sheen.



Next, I finished up the back - I drew up the excess linen in the back using a loose running stitch. Then I cut a circle of interfacing and stitched some navy linen onto it...



Here's what I hope the finished back will look like - nice and neat!



I braided some gold floss together to give the hoop something nice to hang from...



Apologies for the last few photos, they were taken in the middle of some late-night crafting, and my cell camera is very odd in low light.

But there's my progress so far! I'll get some proper photos before I give the hoop away, and share those and a book review on Feeling Stitchy very soon!