I wasn't able to post to my blog in December. :(  I had drafted four posts, but wasn't able to take the photos, and the month just ran right on by.  I'll have them for next December :).  One situation that holds me up from posting is finishing.  The 'fear of finishing' is real!  I stitch something and am really proud of it, and pleased of how it came out, but then I am feeling anxious about some how 'ruining' the piece with finishing.  This has actually never happened, so I'm not sure what I am so afraid of.  I have been sewing for a long time, so it isn't about that, but it is something that I would like to work on during this year.  

This brings me to my plans for 2023!  I do often make some plans  for what I refer to as my 'creative time', but I often keep them personal, but I did decide to share them on my blog.  Here are some of my thoughts of how I'd like my creative time to look for 2023: 

1) Complete the Take A Stitch Tuesday (TAST) challenge that is from Pintangle.  I've been wanting to work on my crazy quilt, but feel that I don't really know what direction to take on the project.  I think these weekly prompts and stitch suggestions will be a big help for me with gradually working away at my crazy quilt.  I attended a class in April for crazy quilting that had been cancelled a few times over the course of two years because of Covid-19.  The class was wonderful, and gave me a good foundation, so I want to continue on it.  I feel also that I have many of the supplies ready for the crazy quilt, with the exception of beads and some textured threads. 

2) Pretty Little Pots by Wendy Williams kit: Oh wow- I've had this since 2019.  I haven't really done much with this project at all.  I nearly have all of the supplies, but I don't have all of the wool that I need.  I purchased all of the materials expect for the wool.  I have some wool, but I don't really have a stash so to speak to pull from.  These pieces are very small that are needed for the project.  I may see if the shop where I tend to buy wool happens to have a grab bag with little pieces.  That may be my best choice for trying to obtain the colors that I need.  This project is what I started as my first wool project, and I was taught how to wool applique by the most loveliest of people.  She passed away in 2022, so I really want to finish this project, and while I do so think of her.  

3) Quilting:  I am so happy that a shop I used to frequent as started their Friday night quilt social again.  I used to attend every month, and I enjoyed it so so much.  I just checked their website, and the class has started again, so I'm so pleased about this because I find that by going to a designated quilting time every month really helps me to move forward with working on projects.  These past several months I haven't done much quilting at all, and I have noticed how very much I do miss it.  I can't wait to go to the quilting social, and will be working on some different projects.  I have a little mini quilt that I've had as a kit to work on for my entry way for a long time that I'd like to work on.  I also was making a coin quilt with a jelly roll I loved.  Lastly, I have a block of the month from 2018, called Floral Menagerie that I have not finished.  All good things to do!  In addition to this, I have several quilt tops that need to be finished as well.  

4) Cross-stitch for this year will basically consist with finishing projects that I have started.  There are too many to even mention here. :)  I have these kitted by season and ready to go, they just need more consistent time.  Also, so much finishing to do!

5) Garment sewing is the last area that I would like to work on.  This past year I finished a few garments, and what has helped is going to a sewing class every Saturday.  I've not been able to attend since the fall, so haven't worked on anything.  I am excited to go back to that this week.  

6) I also took up needlepoint in 2022, which is bringing me so much joy.  It became a little bit of a distraction from other projects because I was so excited to work on some projects. I also signed up and took a big project class, so I am excited to work on that when I can.  I will have to think about where to make time in the rotation for needlepoint.  

All of this feels like a really good plan.  I am looking forward to hopefully displaying some of these projects throughout the year on the blog. 

I have received e-mails from Pintangle for quite a long time, but I receive so many stitching related e-mails that I am embarrassed to say that I didn't look at them to closely! I think I wasn't really sure what they were when I signed up, and I become so overwhelmed with my different plans that I just wasn't sure what the e-mails were about.  The other week while going through my e-mails, I wanted to read more about it to find out more. All I can say is WOW.  What a great program, and I'm glad I started looking at it when I did.  I have been needing something to encourage me on my stitching journey, especially with working on embroidery.  I have been embroidering since I was a very young girl, but I tend not to work on those projects for some reason.  I took a wonderful crazy quilting class in April of 2022, and was able to start a crazy quilt- a dream of mine for a long time.  I have occasionally added stitches to it, but I admittedly struggle with being creative and trying to expand my skills.  I do think that Take a Stitch Tuesday (TAST) will help me with exactly that!  I am so excited to embark on more work in embroidery. 

For the first week, the stitch was the running stitch.  For mine, I spent just a short time adding a running stitch to this block.  I liked the freeform nature of it.  I will continue to practice it for a few minutes during the week.  I only have one block of my crazy quilt pieced together, and I think that I may need to spend a little bit of time piecing together the blocks so that I have more area to stitch on.  I hope that I can updating this weekly- I am going to try my best! 

Update:  I originally posted this sampler on August, 18, 2020, on the 100 year anniversary of women having the right to vote.  The 19th amendment was ratified August 18, 1920, and I thought that today being an election day, it might be good to repost this.  Also, I think the original post had the incorrect print out attached to it.  I had made it into a brochure with historical information, and that wasn't included there.  Here are also the details of the sampler:  

Details: 

• linen- Zweigart 32 count white Belfast linen
• thread- Sulky blendables 12 weight color 4032
• finished size 6 1/4 inch width, 5 inch height 

The sampler is designed to be a Quaker sampler, since many of the Suffragettes were Quakers.  White linen was chosen to represent the white dresses Suffragettes often wore to parades and marches.  Purple was also chosen as a suffragette color to mean loyalty, though women wore sashes of many different colors.  

There are many inspiring Suffragettes, and I chose seven to honor by putting their initials in the sampler.

Susan B. Anthony (SBA) 

Ida B. Wells-Barnett

Elizabeth Cady Stanton 

Lucy Burns

Emmeline Pankhurst 

Lucy Stone 

Lucretia Mott

The design of this sampler is very simple, and my thought was that it could be customized to the stitcher's taste, and is a chance to be creative.  The fabric and floss can easily be changed to something in your stash.

 Suffrage_Sampler

I wasn't even sure what to call this design!  It is so cute and sweet.  I believe that this one was another freebie- I think I added in the moon button.  I hope that I am not making a mistake about this- I don't think it was part of a kit.  The fabric and the trim were from my stash.  I'm not entirely sure how to attach a trim in this way.  I didn't want to catch it in the seam, because I wanted to see it in its entirety.  I used an 80 weight thread that I typically use for applique that matched the trim so that when I attached it, I you can't at all see the thread.  I'm hoping to be able to show some other kinds of finishes- everything I seem to be positing is cross-stitch lately. :) 

I just loved these kits that used to be available from Lizzie Kate. They are so much fun to work on.  This particular kit came with the linien and the trim as well as the thread.  I added a ribbon, and then used a halloween print for the backing fabric.  I'm not sure why I wanted to, but I stuffed this small with walnut shells only.  I'm pleased that is what I decided to do.  It is a long thin rectangular shape, and I think by using the walnut shells it bulked it up more, and made it kind of slouchy.  I didn't fill it entirely, and I do think that if I made a small in this shape again, I would try to see if I could add more walnut shells.  

This was a limited edition kit by Lizzie Kate.  This was really enjoyable to work on.  I really like the bright colors.  It can with the trim, linen, and backing fabric.  The thread was included also.  I love the embellishment for the eyes on the owl.  I find with these types of trims that they can be really, really challenging to iron because if they are made from a synthetic fiber, it can melt.  I did find that was an issue on this trim.  To attach it, I used an orange thread to very carefully and slowly stitch it on.  I stitched in the center of the rick rack so that it looks like it is actually part of the trim.  When completing the finishing, I find that for me I have to do everything very, very slowly, and then I am happy with the results.  

This was a design that I was just playing around with.  I think that it is so sweet.  I wish I knew more about making patterns, because I think it would be really fun to do.  I had a sample of a silk fabric that I used for the finishing.  I had collected some fabric samples because I was thinking of making some curtains for my living room- I still haven't gotten around to the curtains!  I but up the little piece of sample fabric, and made a really small log cabin around the stitched piece.  The pillow is only a few inches long.  I love this finish, because I really love to use really interesting fabrics, I look for them where ever I can.  

I wish I knew where this one came from. I feel terribly when I am not able to credit the designer.  I think it was actually a freebie that came with an order from a cross-stitch shop.  I had found the fabric at a local quilt shop, and I'm not sure where that is from either!  I did some top-stitching on the black ribbons to add a little bit of different look to the finish.  Also, I used a green color, because I wanted a little pop of color and be able to see it.  I'm not that into Halloween, but my husband Dan, just loves it, so I do try to incorporate some Halloween stitching in.  

This Fright Night by Shepherd's Bush.  It was a kit that came with the green fabric.  I just love it, and I love how teeny tiny it is- so cute!  The finish that is shown on the pattern is in a nice wooden box.  I don't know if the box is even available for that anymore, but I finished it into a little pillow.  I noticed that many of the Shepherd's Bush patterns have a ribbon along the edges along with some beads.  That is how I decided to finish this one.  I used a halloween print for the back that I had in my stash.  

I almost didn't want to post this!  I had made this probably fifteen or so years ago.  It was when I really began to see finished ornaments and finished projects that were not in a frame.  I wanted to make something up myself.  I love this fabric, it really reminds of a different time of my life.  I found the floral motifs in a cross-stitch book, and stitched them in a pattern on a scrap piece of linen.  I'm not sure that I constructed it correctly, and probably would approach it differently now, but I appreciate the effort my old self made. :)