The Last Sunday in April, What I'm Slow Stitching

I have been working on and off on the Summer goddess piece adding bits and pieces here and there while working one other projects as well.

I added some of the bottom pieces last night and this morning shown below. 

For Week 17 of the K3n.clothtales SAL the prompt was Back Story, where the back of the work would be the showcase of the piece.  My Back Story piece is from a well worn favorite hankie of mine. A few days before the prompt while folding laundry I noticed a few places were worn through I thought to myself why wouldn't it be? this hankie served me well for over 40 years mostly in the last 15 when the season of my life changed once again, this hankie wiped away the daily sweat of my brow during my change of season, in earlier years it wiped the grimy sweat while gardening here in Florida, during daily walks and mopped up falling tears after several tragic events over all the seasons of my life so far. I have other hankies I use, some nearly as worn as this one but for now this special treasure will be honored as part of my year of stitching. The back of my piece, the Back Story, looks pretty much like all of my pieces. Though I didn't take out any of the missed tangles or knots

Walking the Wheel of the Year observations in my yard this week is more Lantana has sprung up in the back yard I think with the tree that was removed allowing it to grow or it's self sown thanks to the birds, either way the bees and butterflies love it and the Plumbago is beginning to bloom.

I am also stitching a Moon Gazing Hare piece, I used DMC Etoile for the Moon just to give it a little sparkle. I used a back stitch on the hare and a stem stitch for the foreground.

Than I whipped stitched the Hare and added a little spiral, I am still not sure if I like the use of the variegated floss for the hill but I'm leaving it.

Every few days my fingers need a rest from the stitching so I pick up and book, settle down with a cup of tea and some days when I'm not stitching I'm reading about stitching.

I was reading The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis, trying to read it quickly because I can't renew it at the library because someone has requested it. So I returned it because I hate to rush when I read a book. I will have to request it again because lately the urge to stitch has really come over me.

I am linking my post to Kathy's Quilts where Kathy and other talented bloggers share what they are slow stitching. https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2024/04/slow-sunday-stitching_01636077516.html

Slow Stitching Sunday: The Summer Goddess in Progress

 I can't believe we are halfway through the month of April, this month is just flying by.  We have had some crazy weather here in north central Florida, from hot sunny days that feel like the middle of summer to wicked rain storms and tornado warnings to cold mornings and glorious afternoons.

The Solar eclipse came and went without much fanfare here, though I will say the sun appeared extra bright and the birds were quiet for a while.  For the K3n.clothtales SAL our weekly prompt was the Sun which seemed right with the star and moon prompts the previous weeks.  The weekly prompt included the eclipse.  Here is my piece for week 15 along with the moon with wolf and friendship star pieces. I am coming to embrace the wonkiness of my pieces, I love the raw edges and the layering of fabrics. I have always admired the work of others yet never imagined I would love the process as much as I do.

I have been working on several goddess pieces in the slow stitch style, I am currently working on the Summer goddess.  First, I pulled out lots of yellow fabrics, many scraps from my stash. Then I cut or tore them into strips. I traced the template onto muslin then began to randomly stitch them on where you can see a vague figure.

Once each piece is stitched onto the fabric I stitch vertical lines of running stitch down the length of the entire piece, once that is done I stitch around the traced line of the template.  Once all the stitching is completed I cut out the goddess shape and then mount her onto a background fabric. 

Then I just build onto the piece with some fussy cut pieces, hand embroidery, other embellishments as I work. 

The fussy cut piece I added is from In the Beginning, Sun Moon and Stars by Jason Yenter.

I have also mounted the purple goddess onto the background fabric and will begin work soon, I have autumn and winter in the planning stages.

I finished the Kathy Schmitz Woven Wreath's SAL block piece for April and March which I didn't post. 

I changed a few of the stitches on both the bee and the bunny, preferring the back stitch over the stem stitch.

I began the stitching on the Stitchdoodles SAL last week, the SAL began on April 3 and post each Wednesday.

I also have a hand embroidery started a moon gazing hare I just started it on Friday night using the DMC Etoile floss for the moon

The purple goddess is also on her background piece and I will start adding bits and pieces in the coming weeks ahead.

I'm adding my post over at Kathy's Quilts here https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2024/04/slow-sunday-stitching_0587940416.html

Here are the links for the 

Kathy Schmitz SAL https://www.youtube.com/c/TothePointwithKathySchmitz/videos

K3n.clothtales:https://www.youtube.com/@k3n.clothtales/featured

Stitchdoodles:https://www.stitchdoodles.com/