World Embroidery Day

 I hope you have remembered that July 30th is World Embroidery Day. Let's all take a few, or a LOT of, stitches today. 

For the background of World Embroidery Day and inspiration, why not have a look at Piecework Magazine's article.

I am celebrating by working on two projects, one is the Canvas Sampler, which is old and one I am lagging behind with. 

The other is new - a small kit of Japanese Sashiko. I was inspired by Pamela of Hokkaido Kudasai, who had bought her kits at the Seria 100 Yen shop. These kits are really good value for money and I will enjoy making a small cloth for the kitchen with my kit. When I first came to Japan, these small dish cloths or tea towels were found in every kitchen. 46 years later, kitchens now often have dishwashers and disposable microfibre cloths. Let's get some charming items back into the kitchen!

HAPPY STITCHING!

WIPW - Row 16 Secured

Work In Progress Wednesday. As I recovered strength, I managed to speed up my stitching progress.

Hexablooms

I have now stitched row 16 securely to the flimsy. Sorry, no photo.

Furthermore, I have made 18 new blocks for Row 17. SOON, I will have made all the Hexablooms I need for the tapestry - 459.

Sunday Stitch School Indigo Stitch Sampler

A #370 Colcha Stitch heart found its way into the ring of #367 Whipped Stem Stitch.

Isn't the surface beautifully rough?

Sunbonnet Sue

I was even able to complete the Sunbonnet Sue sampler! The full picture and details will be shown on Friday.

Sunday Stitch School - Revision: Stitches 366 - 370

It was good to take a week off! The heat is hard to beat, but I am feeling much better now.

So, let's get on with our revision of the latest five stitches. Click on the title to get to the instructions.

366 Spider's Web Stitch

This is also known as Woven Wheel and is useful when you have bulky threads that can't easily go through the fabric, but slip smoothly over and under the spokes of a wheel.

367 Whipped Stem Stitch

The same goes for this stitch. For the basic Stem Stitch, you need to have a reasonably smooth thread. For the whipping part, where the thread only goes over and under the foundation stitch and does not pierce the fabric, you can use about any thread you like, however troublesome.

368 Balloon Stitch

Here is a Canvas stitch that can make a nice chessboard if only stitched in two colours, or you can play around with a number of shades for a more colourful look.

369 Single Wave Stitch

This is the single version of #355 Double Wave Stitch.

370 Colcha Stitch

was traditionally used to assemble blocks of wool fabric and then decorate it with embroidery motifs. The result would be a thick and warm bedcover or blanket. 

It is a self couching stitch without the strict rules for even placement, angle and length of the couching stitches of its relatives, the  #36 Rumanian Stitch,  #50 Bayeux Stitch and #82 Bokhara Couching Stitch.

Enjoy casual, stress-free stitching!

Homework: Make a picture where Sunbonnet Sue is making good use of the stitches.

Sunday Stitch School Revision - Put on Hold

It is Sunday. We have learned five new stitches, and so it should have been a Revision Lesson today.

Unfortunately, I will put the lesson on hold as I have been 'bitten by the summer bug' and am now in bed with exhaustion and suspected heatstroke.

Luckily, I have a clinic with an excellent house doctor on the premises. Hopefully, I will be on the mend soon.

We are in for some more extreme heat this week. I will prioritise recovering my health. Therefore, there will not be a WIPW post on Wednesday, either.  

Sorry about that.