a new project and other assorted bits

So I have this plastic four drawer crafting  box. In it, I have more 2" x 2" and 4" x 4" cotton squares than I might use in this lifetime or the next. When cleaning out the studio/sewing room last week, I found myself plucking them from the drawer with this want to do something with them again.  I use to make watercolor quilts years ago. My designing and stitching have taken priority now, but I still find myself wanting to fiddle with fabrics.

A box full of orts and four drawers full of squares= a whole lot of little bits of stitch meditation! 

1*18*15

1*18*15

I had recently found images of fabric stitch journals on Pinterest and a few of my favorite Facebook pages and thought they were interesting. This morning, a fellow artist friend pointed me a weekly challenge to create these little embroidered squares, and she thought it might be a cool way to make up one of these stitch books. (Thank you, Lee Ann!)  I would like to make more than one a week. I am thinking one a day. A warm up of sorts, a morning meditation. 

I have tried to step away from crocheting. (Like I ever *really* thought that could happen!) I needed to free up more time for designing and stitching.  I had a few stray orders to fill for Tidbits. Realized as I was making these that I really miss the futzy work with my little hook (oh, I never ever would have thought I would find myself saying that) So, to sate that hooking itch, I'm going to create a few things each month to offer as a monthly special.

Cotton Hearts

A Whole Bunch of Butterflies!

And finally, what's next in the cross stitch realm? So happy you asked. I wanted to do another piece that felt like a combination of quilt blocks and cross stitch sampler. I found several floral motifs and changed them up. I'm still unsure if I want to stitch the entire block in or leave that negative space around each flower.

And so the week begins!

monday meditation

Water and sky.

water at night finished

It has been a good week.  Things finished, new ideas blossoming, so many things that I should find myself overwhelmed, but instead I am immensely inspired. This piece, Water At Night, started out as simple exploration, and it flowed from there, much as water would, or stars shooting across the sky at night.  

I am happy with how it finished, and I think that I will play with a few more scraps in days to come. There is something incredibly meditative about laying down stitches in this manner. Imperfect, random, and yet very repetitive.  Time just flowed, and it brought me focus. 

Also completed, the first experiment with the Sajou cross stitch pattern. I am envisioning these smaller pieces as pincushions or maybe small bags for crystals, runes and tarot cards.  I have another piece of this fabric left, and I think I will stitch another variation of this with one of DMC's Color Variations in muted celery and mossy greens.

Today I need to see to some of the "busy business work", printing, emails, the things that I have put off because I could not set the stitching aside. But then, with coffee in hand, I think a little time on the deck will be called for. Autumn is upon us, and the air sings with it.

antique cross stitch patterns reworked

I had some antique Sajou cross stitch patterns that I picked up a long time ago at one thrift shop or another. I can hardly read the print. Still, they are inspiring and have left me exploring a little bit last night and this morning, combining motifs and stitch combinations.

I have always been fascinated by mandalas, and quite a few of the patterns I found have a lot of the repetitive elements of mandalas within them. This work has been very meditative for me and is serving as a nice bridge between my own cross stitch designs.