and feeling

Fourth Blessing – Mother Earth

linda — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 18:24:27 +0000

For my fourth blessing, I made a little earth shape to represent Mother Earth. I’m really thankful for this world we live in and the nature all around us. Some things are scary and so powerful and beyond us, while some things are so delicate and precious. I think of it all as a blessing…we always have something to learn. As you can see my colors didn’t exactly turn out as I imagined, but I think it’s alright. I still have trouble with getting things even (not to mention geography skills!) but I think the symbol is pretty universal. That’s it for now!

Third Blessing – Family Tree

linda — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:04:49 +0000

I know it must be odd that this blessing is after coffee, but perhaps I had to wake up a bit before realizing! Who can really order all our blessings anyhow, right? They are all important. I decided to stitch a little tree to represent family…it’s such a blessing to me to have grown up in a large family and now have more family on my husband’s side. It’s such an important element in our lives, to have family that you trust and care about, who are there to support you no matter what. Whether you were born into a family or became a family through other means, it’s all the same in the end…love and support.

I try to do a little sketch in pencil before going to thread for each square, but at times the design just takes on a life of its own. This tree totally was a more freehand kind of idea…I really like how it turned out though! Just a mix of greens for the leaves and little lines for the trunk. Still need to learn lots when it comes to embroidery, but it’s fun and relaxing to me. I don’t have the patience for certain aspects, but I think no matter what we just have to enjoy the process ourselves.

Second Blessing – Coffee

linda — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:17:15 +0000

It’s probably more of a dependency thing, but really I love coffee so much and glad that it exists. Perhaps some of the things I consider a blessing are shallow, but I think anything that makes us happy. I’ve found out that coffee isn’t really bad for us anyway…in moderation!

I’ve been so busy with other work that I haven’t gotten a chance to doing as many squares. I haven’t even finished the grid yet…but just gotta keep at it!

First Blessing – My Soulmate

linda — Mon, 10 May 2010 12:08:49 +0000

My first blessing is about my husband, my soulmate. Us together…it’s such a wonderful thing and I could not be more thankful. I can’t really express it all in words…

I drew out a pair of hearts together for my first square and just filled in the hearts with a light pink floss. The border is the Palestrina stitch and although it’s not the most perfect hand embroidery, I’m in love with what it represents and means to me. Loving this project and will be working on my next square.

One thing I have to find is a new source for embroidery floss. It costs 1.40 euros here for one tiny skein…eek!

Sublime Stitching Guides

linda — Tue, 04 May 2010 20:56:37 +0000

I just discovered on the Sublime Stitching website that they have guides! I am totally going to check them out to make sure I’m not completely clueless. Finding it hard to really dig in and stitch…eek! http://www.sublimestitching.com/stitches

I think there is always that fear of doing it wrong and looking silly – even if technically you can undo the stitching and start over. Sigh. I’ve also been busy with work, but brainstorming how I’m going to stitch my first blessing square – being married to my wonderful husband. We are coming up on our first anniversary, so it’s exciting and wonderful and all that lovey dovey stuff. I’m not sure what I want to stitch to represent the blessing…it seems so deep and complicated. Rings, hearts…hmm…

Creating a 100 Square Grid

linda — Sat, 01 May 2010 19:47:23 +0000

I finally cut my fabric piece and drew up a 100 square grid. However, the fabric seems really dirtied up by the pencil. I assume it will wash off and I hope I am right…but the other concern is if the lines are really supposed to go with the linen threads as well! I am still debating if I should stitch the grid in to be more precise and have a guide.

I suppose I should be doing a back stitch, but looking at the varieties out there I suppose even a fancier whipped back stitch might be cool. Perhaps too much for the grid itself? Or I suppose a beginner should go with the stem stitch…so many choices!

Found Some Fabric!

linda — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 21:44:22 +0000

I looked around the house and my mother-in-law gave me an old white sheet to cut up and use for my count my blessings stitching piece…talk about score! The materials is really nice and to think it’s more than 50 years old…linens that women here in Italy used to bring with them when getting married as part of their dowry. Wow! I feel a bit bad cutting into it, but my mother-in-law assured it was perfectly fine and she had lots more to last more than a lifetime. Woohoo!

So now all I have to do is figure out how to make my grid of 100 squares. I suppose drawing with pencil is simple enough, but wondering if I should stitch in the lines as others have?

I’m not sure I know how to do that either…total beginner here! Newbie alert…

Learning the Stitches

linda — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:19:11 +0000

I’m getting ready for the stitchalong with the Count My Blessings Project, gathering supplies I already have and deciding what I might need to purchase. I’m not really sure what kind of fabric to get…or if the cross stitch type of fabric would make things easier…hmm…decisions decisions.

In addition, I also started looking around online for a beginner’s guide, just to learn the basic stitches and found a really great site on Hand Embroidery. It looks like I will be able to go through all the basic stitches and other stitch families, learning them one by one. The site is nicely organized with clear photos showing you how to do the stitch. Pretty darn cool to have so many resources online…this will definitely be a great learning experience. I can’t wait to get started…but need to get that fabric…

Stitching Along…and feeling…

linda — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 07:32:01 +0000

Hello everyone! I’ve decided to revamp this blog and use it for an upcoming stitchalong project with Amy from Inspire Co. – Counting My Blessings Project. The idea is to stitch about the blessings in your life, to focus on the positive and good things. There will be a group of us to provide support and help along the way, as we work through our individual stitching goals, sharing our progress through our blogs. I thought that this blog name would be perfect…stitching along and feeling along… it’s all about what we feel.

Although I am a total beginner, I wanted to join in because the theme is a good one – to count our blessings. Also, I want to take this opportunity to learn more about stitching and embroidery. This project seems very open and inviting to me, so why not?! My goal is learn the basic stitches and what is possible with a few beads here and there, with the things I already have around me. This blog will serve to document my journey and project progress. I would love to bust my stash and create something beautiful to remind me of my blessings…you should consider joining in as well!