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. :) 

I seem to say in every post "this is from a long time ago". :)  Anyways, I finished stitching this a while ago, but hadn't for some reason gotten around to fully finishing this.  I am not entirely sure if the title is Summer Apples ABCs.  It was by a company called The Purple Thread, but I don't think that they make kits or designs any longer.  I had some of the leftover fabric, which was what the pattern showed for make a little yo-yo.  The backing fabric is the same that is in the yo-yo.  I really love the finish on this project, and I think that I am going to use this finish in another project.