February Arrives with Sun and Stitching.

 Happy February! 

Happy to say the month started with sunny skies and quite cool mornings here in Marion County Florida.

I have been hand embroidering and slow stitching a few pieces since the first of the month. In fact I have been doing quite a bid of stitching since the new year, I'm seeing this as my Stitching Year or my year of stitching.

First up I did the K3n.clothtales SAL piece for week 5 with a prompt or idea of hidden secrets using the EPP for a hexie piece.  I have to admit I wasn't too sure about this because I have never done EPP. It was easier than I ever thought. My little hidden secrets story is years and years ago I did a Grandmothers Flower Garden quilt using the template in the photo and cutting each piece out with scissors and adding the stitch line on each piece.  I ironed all the stitch lines so I could piece the quilt. I never thought I would do another. 

Each piece for Week 5 came from scraps of fabrics of quilts I have made over the 30 odd years.

I completed the stitching on the Airmid goddess piece, the pattern is from the Dancing Goddesses Etsy shop. https://www.etsy.com/shop/DancingGoddesses?ref=shop-header name&listing_id=1479656818&from_page=listing

It's a small piece of pre-printed fabric about 5x7 inches the design is about 5 inches. I will figure out a finish for it soon.

Yesterday afternoon I started to stitch a very meditative piece gifted to me at Christmas, the design is on pre-printed fabric in a spiral sashiko style.

The fabric is very thin so I backed it with cotton batting.

I'm using a variegated sashiko thread that came with the printed fabric.  The lines are supposed to be washable I just hope the thread is colorfast.

I am thinking of using the spiral piece as part of a wall hanging I have brewing in my mind. I just love the look of the spirals.

Later today I will do the February block in the Kathy Schmitz's SAL Woven Wreaths. I'm adding my post over at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching. https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2024/02/sow-sunday-stitching.html

The 2 Crabapple Hill Studios patterns arrived early this week, I just love the cute little witches Meg Hawkey designs.  These are blocks 2 and 3 somehow I missed blocked .  

On another medium I am make a few paper crafted pockets, these are made using 12x12 sheets of scrapbooking paper.

February is National Embroidery Month

The Last Sunday Stitching for 2021

 Here we are the day after Christmas and the last Slow Sunday Stitching in 2021. I am happy to say I had time yesterday evening to get some stitching in and pleased to present the last Goddess of the Month hand embroidery for 2021, Airmid (also known as Airmed, Airmeith or Airmedh) is the Irish Goddess associated with healing, and particularly herbal healing. She is also associated with gardening, nature, family and loyalty.

I completed the stitching late last night, washed off the stitch and wash product and hung her up to dry, this morning I snapped her photo wrinkled fabric and all.   Here is a close up of the foraging bag at her hip.

This is one of my favorite images of Airmid by Jane Brideson, she does some of the most beautiful pieces of Art I especially love her Cailleach pieces. This is the link to her website take a look http://theeverlivingones.blogspot.com/

On her website she has a list/map of flowers and plants used in the Airmid image. I haven't decided if I am going to do a new monthly challenge for 2022.  I may just continue on with goddesses. Currently I am in the midst of creating a new Greenman piece and I'm also planning to put together a quilt this year using this lovely goddess fabric I purchased from Spoonflower for a shop Magic in Your Living Room, there is also an Etsy shop of the same name.

There are 2 different fabric panels, one surrounded by a yellow border and one with out a border.  I

am planning to use all of the squares to make a quilt, then I had an idea to alternate each block with a hand embroidered block using a basic goddess shape.  Nothing is set in stone so I will let my ideas brew until I have a final decision.

Here is a look at all 12 Goddesses I hand embroidered during 2021

All these pieces have to be trim to the same size if I decide to make them into a quilt, if not just trimmed and finished possible ideas prayer flags, framed or mounted and made into a book.

Well there is time to decide.  This week I have a few things I want to finish up and things to get done before the start of a brand new year. But for now I need to toss something in the oven my sister and her family are coming later today.

I am linking my post today at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching. https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2021/12/slow-sunday-stitching_0245668423.html

I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday season, whether it was Christmas, Hanukah, Diwali, Kwanza, Yule or Festivus. And I hope you all have some time to stitch.