Tag: Embroidery

English Paper Piecing quilt blocks that look like red, green, and white peppermint candy discs

Christmas Stitching in October

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I’ve written a little bit about the Peppermint Blossoms EPP Quilt and the Christmas Alphabet Embroidery Sampler, but haven’t shared any actual info or pictures about them. We shall remedy that today!

Meet the Peppermint Blossoms EPP Quilt:

This one’s going to take a very long time. I spent some time in the past week figuring out numbers for it and I think I’m going to end up needing 50 full blossoms and 10 half blossoms, plus whatever insane number of background triangles and diamonds that I’ll math out later. As of today, I have 8 red blossoms and 7 green blossoms complete. Only 35 to go…

Red, Green, and White Peppermint Blossoms English Paper Piecing Quilt units

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This project is my current crafting-in-the-van project that gets worked on whenever I’m waiting for kids’ practices to get over and when I’m sitting at church during Mutual because I don’t want to drive back home just to turn around half an hour later to come back and pick them up. Progress is slow on this, but I can usually knock out a full blossom a week now that I’m working on it during Mutual.

English Paper Piecing quilt blocks that look like red, green, and white peppermint candy discs

I also need to cut out more white jewel pieces for this quilt—113 more, actually. Yikes.

And here’s the Christmas Alphabet Embroidery Sampler:

The Ziploc bag that it’s stored in says it’s from ~2005, so this project is pretty ancient. I think I bought the pattern shortly after we bought our first home and before I got pregnant with Renaissance. I was leaning towards a primitive and folksy decor look, but decided later that it really wasn’t for me. (That, and my house was decorated in “homeschooling chic” out of necessity for the stage of life we were in, lol.)

Christmas Alphabet Embroidery sampler in rustic colors

I’ve been granting myself some “Whimsical Days” each month to work ahead on upcoming holidays and celebrations when my heart desires it, and I found myself wishing I had a slow stitching Christmas project to pick up on my Christmas days, so I unearthed this and have been putting in work on it while watching movies. I’m not worried about when this will be finished; it’s just fun to work on. Maybe it’ll be ready for this year’s Christmas, maybe it won’t.

But I like to keep track of progress, so this guy is at 12 blocks out of 26, which is ~46%, and we’ll subtract 5% from that to account for the border that will need to be stitched at the end, so 41% done.

"Yuletime" #210 Alphabet Stitches embroidery sampler, pattern by Once Upon a Vine (Kim Goodrich), stitched in primitive and folk colors of DMC embroidery floss

And I just noticed that the pattern itself has a 2006 copyright, so I imagine I actually started working on this in 2006. I do love that fabric and yarn will wait for you!

Hopefully you’re able to find some slow stitching time on this beautiful Sunday! The weather is blustery here and so perfect for some down time with needle and thread.

Linking up with:

#craftygoals: August 2023

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Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s the fourth of August and I’m only just now posting this. It’s the end of my summer quarter and everything is piling up on me, so things are a bit crazy at the moment. At least I’m posting within the first week of the month, right?

I’m going to combine this month’s #craftygoals wishlist with the Friday update of what I’ve accomplished in the craft room in the past week. We’ll all survive the uncertainty, I’m sure.

Debrief: July 2023 #craftygoals:

  1. Patriotic Mini Charm Chiffon Baby Quilt: Done and blogged. Finished much, much later than planned, but technically done.
  2. Farm to Table Mini Charm Chiffon Baby Quilt: Just started cutting it. Did I want it to be done by the end of July? Yes, yes I did. Sigh.
  3. Rainbow Coin Strip Quilt: Nope.
  4. Scrappy Thursdays:
    • Brickhouse: Finished the blocks!
    • Clementine: I think I’m going to put this one back into hibernation
    • Mixed Berries Quilt: Started cutting the fabrics for the 12-inch blocks
    • Leaders & Ender HSTs: Nope. Thinking about abandoning this one as well.
  5. Smitten EPP Quilt: I don’t know where I was exactly at the beginning of July on this, but I’ve made a lot of progress in joining the small hexagons into large hexagon blocks.

August 2023 #craftygoals:

TIME-SENSITIVE THINGS THAT NEED WORKING ON ASAP:

Farm to Table Mini Charm Chiffon Baby Quilt: I’m doing better with this one, in that the baby hasn’t been born yet, so I’m better prepared with this particular quilt. I am going to need to sew like the wind on this, though.

Renaissance’s Birthday Party: I am really excited for this, even though I have no idea where to start or how big I want to go on this party. There is a (very cute) theme and we’re starting to gel our brainstormed ideas into something cohesive. I’m sure there will be a lot of work I’ll need to do to make this into something special. It’s her last “kid” birthday party, and we’re leaning into that really hard.

THINGS TO WORK ON AFTER THE ASAP PROJECTS:

I’m torn between working on:

  • Rainbow Coin Strip Quilt: It’s basted and just needs to be quilted and bound, OR
  • Nature Trails Quilt: Because when August is over, it will be September, which is autumn and this quilt is an autumn quilt. The top is done, but it’s not basted yet. I wonder if I even have a backing for it?

Maybe I can just be amazing and get both done. Ha ha ha.

Scrappy Thursdays: I’m going to simplify and get rid of my rotation. Furthest completed projects will be prioritized. I’ll work on the Brickhouse Quilt until it’s done, and then move on to the Mixed Berries Quilt.

HAND STITCHING:

English Paper Piecing: Music lesson time will still be spent on the Smitten EPP quilt. I think I’m assembling one combined large hexagon per week, so hopefully I get four more put together over the course of August.

Knitting/Embroidery: I didn’t plan for it last month, but then I realized I wanted to include some mandatory knitting time into each day. As a result, Eeyore the Unicorn was born.

I was going to move onto another knitting project after finishing Eeyore, but then I happened to see an embroidery kit that Michael bought me for Christmas and I wanted to do that instead. It’s not a big project and I’ll probably finish it by the end of the month.

However, I don’t like the idea of rushing my embroidery projects because I just enjoy the work so much, so I hesitate to force this into the confines of a goal. I give myself the gift of thirty minutes each day to work on this; it’s a small project that I expect will be finished by the end of the month and I will absolutely not be frustrated if it’s not completed because it will be what it will be with the time I have for it. I don’t even want to make a plan for what I’ll do after it’s done because I don’t want to burden myself with the excitement of another project that could dampen my enthusiasm in any way for this embroidery project.

(I do have a lot of knitting projects I’d like to get going on though…)

2021 Project Round-up

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Because it’s fun to see everything in ONE BIG POST!

January: Was busy with the kids returning to in-person hybrid school. Which meant I sewed up A LOT of face masks.

We had a power outage, and during that time I crocheted some little hearts to go on my Christmas tree, which I decided to keep up through February as a Valentine’s Tree because it is so freaking’ dark here in January and February that I’ve decided to keep up all the white Christmas lights for the extra light.

I also started knitting a sweater for myself at the end of the month.

February: I finished up a Kindness KAL shawl for Em, and I got through both sleeves of my sweater. I also sewed up a few more face masks.

March: I finally finished my Echo Flowers Shawl!

Denise and I decided to do a “Bestie Sewing Challenge,” where we both bought yardage of the same fabric and made stuff from it, just because we were bored out of our skulls with the dragging on of the pandemic and needed something to be excited about. I made myself a skirt from McCall’s 1369.

I picked the Peacock Feathers Stole back up and started working a few rows a day.

We also finally did some Pysanky, which was the real creative highlight of the month for my kids.

April: I made a pencil skirt for Em (McCall’s 5523) out of the leftover Bestie Challenge fabric, and I started working on my McCall’s 6696 (M6696) Birthday Dress for myself. Worked some more rows of the Peacock Feathers Stole.

May: I finished my Lavender Birthday Dress. There wasn’t a lot of crafting going on because I was super busy in the garden, and M6696 is a surprisingly hand-stitching heavy garment. Kept chugging away on the Peacock Feathers Stole.

June: I made a big, swirly skirt for Rachel because she was suddenly obsessed with big, swirly skirts. I also started working on my Violet Chambray M6696. Very busy in the garden, and we started doing a lot of cooking from scratch, which took up a lot of our time. I also kept putting in time on the Peacock Feathers Stole.

July: So much gardening. So much cooking zucchini. I embroidered the lavender wreath wall hanging and started on the “Un Alfabeto a Fiori” wreath. I started stitching an EPP couch cushion, which still isn’t complete because I don’t know how I want to do the borders. I also started working on the Mini Charm Chiffon Baby Quilt for Fat Quarter Shop. FINISHED the Peacock Feathers Stole!

August: I got a parasite after forgetting to wash my hands after cleaning bird feeders, and spent most of August being excruciatingly ill. My foot was also a big, painful mess and it was decided we’d do surgery on it in September.

September: Finished up the Mini Charm Chiffon Baby Quilt top and my corded petticoat right before my surgery. Spent the rest of the month working on the Un Alfabeto a Fiori wreath embroidery.

October: Finished embroidering the wreath, started embroidering my historical pocket. Started work on my flounced petticoat. Also appliqued pumpkins to a purchased black circle skirt for Renaissance’s “1950s Witch” Halloween costume.

November: Cheered by the excellent healing progress in my foot, I kind of went nuts with the idea that I’d do some epic Christmas crafting prep. I finished Nathaniel’s Fresh Cut Pines quilt and Em’s Yuletide Botanica Orange Peel quilt. I also finished Rachel’s Ombre Heart Mitts. I started quilting the Hipster Christmas Trees quilt.

December: The Great December Sickness hit and took. me. out. I did, however, squeak through with finishing the Hipster Christmas Tree quilt. All other projects saw virtually no time put in on them, but I did do some really great thinking about crafty organization and the like, and came up with an excellent game plan for 2022, which I will share with you tomorrow!

Are you one of those people who just always thinks they aren’t doing enough? I am. That’s why I do these round-up posts and crafty goals things–they make me aware of how much I do actually do, which makes that Perfectionistic Taskmaster Voice in my head quiet down a bit and give me a little peace. It was a busy year; it had a lot of weirdness going on with the pandemic and trying for some semblance of normalcy, and I had a lot going on with injuries and illnesses, but still managed to get a decent amount of projects finished. I like that.

And yes, I have way too much planned for 2022. ‘Cuz that’s how I roll….

Thanks for cheering me on this year, I’ve appreciated it very much. Hopefully you’re all sitting back and thinking through your own 2021s and realizing that you did good, too. And hopefully you’ve got some exciting plans for 2022. Because we have all definitely earned some of that. Good job making it through 2021, y’all. Here’s to a better 2022…

Embroidering my Historical Pocket

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While my foot continues to heal, I’m limited in my crafting abilities to hand projects because it’s difficult to operate a sewing machine pedal in a boot. No worries, my desire to start assembling historical ensembles means that a lot of things I want to make are perfectly suited for hand sewing due to the fact that sewing machines either weren’t invented or not widely used in domestic spheres for the periods I’m interpreting.

I’ve decided to start working on a pair of pockets for my 1850s ensemble. Have you ever heard the nursery rhyme about Lucy Locket losing her pocket?

Lucy Locket lost her pocket,
Kitty Fisher found it;
Not a penny was there in it,
Only ribbon ’round it.

I was always puzzled by it as a child, but it turns out that pockets used to be detachable items of clothing, tied around your waist under your skirts. And yes, sometimes those ties could come undone and your pocket could get lost.

Historical pocket embroidery transfer by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara. Pattern is from Godey's Lady's Book, October 1853.

There are many historical examples of pockets in museums, and a lot of them have beautiful embroidery. I love a chance to practice my embroidery skills, so I’m going to embroider my pockets as well.

I’ve chosen an embroidery pattern that was published in the October 1853 issue of Godey’s Lady’s Book because my 1850s ensemble that I’m making is for a character that lived in Washington Territory in 1855 and would be a little behind on fashions due to slowness of mail delivery. (Let’s be honest here, though–a middle-aged mother of four in any era of history would probably not worry about pocket embroidery at all because yeesh, feeding and clothing your family was hard back then and I wouldn’t be using my time to make my invisible articles of clothing more pretty. Or, maybe it’d be a nice little thing I’d do for myself, finding snippets of time to embroider by candlelight? I like to think about that while I’m working on this.)

I’ve been slowly working on the embroidery, and this pocket has turned into a pocket embroidery “sampler” as I figure out my embroidery likes and dislikes. It’s a good piece to practice and experiment on, and I’m hopeful that my embroidery skills will be much improved by the end of this project. I started with Pinterest tutorials, but hated how they were looking, so I dug out a book on needlepainting by Trish Burr and started working according to her instructions. I like the needlepainting portions much more than the random Pinterest embroidery technique sections.

It seems that most people wore two pockets, so I’ll eventually have to make another. Extant examples of pocket pairs tend to match, but I don’t think I have enough interest in me to do this pattern again–I’m still trying to pump myself up to mirror the image on this particular pocket and stitch it again. Another two times after that?!?! It’s a no from me. Maybe I’ll do the other pocket in that grape vine pattern sharing the page? Or maybe I’ll get lost in researching more embroidery patterns from the era and choose from those! (Probably that last one…because I really enjoy reading through historical ladies’ magazines.)

The embroidery process thus far:

More embroidery awaits! This might be set aside for a little while, though; one of my kids wants a very specific look for their Halloween costume this year, and I’m going to have to sew some of it up myself.

More info on historical pockets: