Slow Sunday Stitching

Last night we turned our clocks back one hour because it is the end of Daylight Saving Time. Which only means that we all get one extra hour of time. Well, we don't really, but we delude ourselves into thinking this is a real thing. The sun is not actually taking one hour longer to rotate around the earth today. 
But don't we all talk about wanting more time to get things done? 
What did you do with the "extra hour" you were given this weekend? I would like to say that I used the extra hour for hand stitching, but truthfully I just slept longer! 

Today I will be working on more alternate blocks for my Life Is Beautiful quilt. Here are the 6 that I've quilted so far. 

When starting to quilt my latest block, I noticed that the sandwich felt quite thick in the middle. I unpinned the block and separated the layers, and realized that I had forgotten to cut away the fabric circle behind the applique. Why didn't I notice that when I was pin basting the block??!

So I cut away the excess fabric behind the appliqued circle, re-basted the sandwich, and started again.
I can't really blame it on sleep deprivation since I had a whole extra hour of sleep!


What are you hand stitching today? 
We don't want to know what your sewing machine is working on. Here at Slow Sunday Stitching we are "old school" and want to know about "your people power" projects which involve only your needles, threads, scissors, and your very own hands. 

   

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Slow Sunday Stitching

Happy Slow Sunday Stitching! 
It's time to pick up your hand stitching project and put in some stitches. You will immediately notice the health benefits of breathing more slowly, clearing your mind to focus on a simple task, and feeling more relaxed as you enjoy creating more stitches in a project that you have chosen. Even if you just put in a few stitches, you will benefit, and your project will be closer to completion. 
Today's post is a Life is Beautiful update.
I have been working consistently on this quilt since February 2015 and have written 55 blog posts about it already! It's truly a S L O W stitching project (pattern designer is Helen Stubbings) and is chock full of different types of hand stitching including embroidery, applique and quilting, all done one stitch at a time.

It is a 63 block quilt and here are the 24 blocks I have finished so far. The top left part of the photo shows how the layout will look with the embroidered blocks and the alternate 4 patch circle blocks. For some unknown reason I have only finished 4 of those blocks to date, so I prepped 4 more to hand quilt this week.

Slow Down!

I love this project because it reminds me of the values to which I aspire, and it's a reminder that wonderful projects get created one stitch at a time. I do not feel any pressure to finish this project within a certain time frame. 
It takes as long as it takes. 
I have all the time I need.
*deep breath* 

So now we want to know what you are hand stitching today. Last Sunday we had over 30 wonderful blog posts to enjoy reading! I love visiting all the link ups every week when I am home on a Sunday. There are 2 blogs that I can't leave a comment on because the Google Plus feature is not compatible with my computer. So I want to say to Paul and to Jocelyn how much I appreciate you linking up to Slow Sunday Stitching and wish I could leave a comment to encourage you in your slow stitching projects.

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Slow Sunday Stitching

A big welcome to all you hand stitching aficionados! 
This is the weekly link up to share your projects with other stitchers around the world who truly appreciate how long it really takes to create the kind of treasures that you are working on.


This is the view where I was slowing down with my hand stitching last weekend. I loved the sound of the water rushing over the rapids. The leaves were a range of beautiful colours and the sun was brilliant. It could not have been a more perfect day to stitch in the sun.  

quilting is finished on another embroidered block

I have been working on my Life is Beautiful project for two and a half years. In February, my project will celebrate it's 3rd birthday. That's just how it goes with hand stitching. Projects take a long time and progress slowly. We learn to appreciate how this process of making stitches with our own hands forces us to slow down our heartbeat, our days, and our lives.

quilting is finished on 4 alternate blocks

There are 63 blocks in my quilt, 32 of which are hand embroidered and 31 are alternate blocks. The embroidery is finished and I am hand quilting all the blocks individually (to join them in a quilt-as-you-go way when they are ready). I have finished quilting 18 of the embroidery blocks (past the half way point ... woohoo!) and have also finished quilting these 4 alternate blocks (not anywhere near the half way point!)
But my progress is slow and steady... just how I like it!

So what are you hand stitching today? Link up your blogpost and share your slow progress with us!




   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly celebration of all hand stitched crafts! We hope you will join us in setting aside time each Sunday for some relaxing stitching on your favourite project. Pick up a needle and thread, breathe deeply, and enjoy a few moments of restful stitching.


This week I finished a quilt that was 5 years old (see the finished Tetris quilt here). I enjoyed stitching down the binding on my lunch hour, sitting on a bench at the park. So many employees will sit at a desk and stare at their phone screen for their lunch "break". That does not relax my body or brain. But hand stitching does! It is a meditative process that immediately calms me. I enjoyed sitting in the sun, breathing fresh air, and feeling renewed with creative energy. 

I also put in some binding stitches at my weekly date with my parents. It is our tradition to watch "Dancing With the Stars" together and I like to have a hand stitching project to work on during the commercials. 

Since that project is finished, today I'll be back to working on my Life is Beautiful blocks. Here are the quilted blocks on the design wall.

I have a few more alternate blocks prepped and ready to start stitching. When they are all quilted, I will join them together using the quilt-as-you-go technique.

What are you working on today? Link up your blog post below and tell us about your hand stitching progress so we can cheer you on! 

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party!
I am definitely looking forward to some slow stitching today. How about you?
I hope you will take some time today to relax and to put a few stitches into your project. 

One of the important jobs for hand stitching projects is doing all the prep work so that when you have the time and energy to do some stitching, everything is organized and ready to go.
 This week I prepped these 8 blocks for hand quilting. This task involved finding backing fabric, pressing the fabrics and blocks, cutting the backing and batting to the correct size, then pin basting the sandwiches. Now they are all ready for me to hand stitch today. I doubt they'll all be done, but I'm looking forward to getting started on the pile!
We love to see what you're working on, so link up your blog post below and share your project with us.

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the regular weekly practice of relaxing with some hand stitching! We encourage you to join us... all you have to do is take a deep breath, find your hand stitching project and put in some stitches. Easy peasy!

In Canada this is called "labour day" weekend, which marks the unofficial end of summer and the beginning of the fall school semester. In years gone by people would use this day to campaign for better working conditions, and some unions do have marches planned for Monday. But for most people it's just a day off work to relax and enjoy a rest from their labours. Of course I'm hoping to get in some serious "work" time in the sewing room!
I am really trying to practice what I preach regarding the value of "one stitch at a time". A whole week has passed and I haven't even finished quilting another Life is Beautiful block. I haven't fixed the block from last week either. I have been slowly putting stitches in this block and it is a few diagonal seams away from a finish. 
I remind myself to be satisfied with any progress.

What are you hand stitching today? Post a link to your blog post and show us your project so we can cheer you on!



   

    An InLinkz Link-up
  

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly slow stitching party where we celebrate the art of hand stitching.

Yesterday was "Play Music on the Porch" Day. 
Who knew?!?

This was my second year attending a local porch party event and it was lots of fun. While everyone else was enjoying the music, I was also doing some hand stitching and finished one more block for my Life is Beautiful project. It was a great day of music and stitching.




When I got home, I realized that there is a big stitch across the middle of the block that is quite noticeable. See right where the needle is? I guess I was moving from quilting the column of flowers on the right to the column on the left, and instead of the needle pulling the thread through the quilt sandwich, it went right across the top. Of course I'm blaming the needle!
Any suggestions of how I can fix it now? If I clip it, the lines of stitches will start to unravel. Please leave me a comment if you can solve the hand stitching dilemma of the day!

What are you working on this week?  Please share with us your hand stitching project and link up your blog post below.

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Slow Sunday Stitching

It's Sunday already! 
I have had a week full of dilly-dallying, lollygagging and bed rest, while waiting for my back and head to heal after a fall last weekend. Of course there were a few short outings in order to keep my sanity. I took my portable hand stitching project to one of my favourite spots and enjoyed a chocolate shake and some quilting.
You can't rush healing. Cells knit themselves back together in their own sweet time and you just have to wait. The headaches have subsided but the back pain continues. This week will include a few more medical appointments to see if there is anything else I should be doing to restore pain free movement (and sitting).
Thank you for all your messages of encouragement and support! Your thoughts and prayers mean so much, and do help with getting through the frustrating, difficult days.

As of today there are 12 finished blocks for my Life Is Beautiful project on the design wall. Progress is slow and steady ...
just how we like it here at Slow Sunday Stitching!

What are you stitching by hand today?
Link up your blog post below are share your slow progress so we can cheer you on!


   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Slow Stitching Medicine

It's Sunday... which means it's time to visit with your slow stitching friends around blog land!
I don't have much to share since I've been so busy this week. I was so optimistic last weekend that I prepped a few blocks thinking I'd have them all quilted by today. 


But I didn't even finish one of these. I had so many other fun things to do, and now I am exhausted.

I need some slow stitching medicine to help me recuperate. It helps me to feel stitched back together after a difficult day. It helps me to feel grounded and to get back in my body in the present moment. 
So that's what I'm doing today. I hope you will join me in making time for some slow stitching and give yourself a big spoon full of medicine!

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the Slow Sunday Stitching party! 
This weekly link up celebrates all types of hand stitching including cross stitch, embroidery, hand piecing, knitting, crochet, rug making, english paper piecing, applique, hand quilting, etc. We enjoyed seeing examples of each these activities in the link ups last week.
Last week we had a draw for a little kit to make the Bee' Lieve in Yourself mini quilt. The winner of the link up draw was #22 (of 37) which is Jayne, and the winner of the commenter draw was #28 (of 45) who is Nancy. Send me your snail mail addresses and I'll get these in the mail to you. Thanks to everyone who contributes by linking up, and by taking the time to leave encouraging comments. 

This is what I'm working on this week... more Life is Beautiful blocks.
I finished the applique on the last alternate block. I used silk thread which makes lovely stitches that sink into the fabric, but it also frays easily and the needle constantly becomes unthreaded. It's not my favourite thread to use.

After the circle is appliqued, I cut away the foundation fabric behind it. Last year when I started cutting away the circles on these blocks, I wondered if I needed special duck billed scissors for this task. But I persevered carefully using regular scissors, and never once accidentally cut the appliqued fabric on any of 63 blocks. So I saved myself some money in not buying those! 

Here is finished alternate block #31, and the piece that is cut away from behind the centre circle. That cutaway piece will eventually be appliqued over the final block joins to cover all my mismatched seams!

And now back to quilting the embroidered blocks...
here are the first 9 quilted blocks on the design wall. 

9 done and 23 of these blocks to go. And then there will be the 31 alternate blocks to quilt. I'll be busy with this project for a while!




What are you hand stitching today? Share your progress by linking up your blog post below.

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Slow Sunday Stitching Giveaway

For over 5 years now I have been hosting the Slow Sunday Stitching link up! It's as regular as clockwork... every Sunday morning I host a link up and hand stitching enthusiasts from around the world generously share photos of what they are working on. It's truly inspiring and encourages us all to keep going with our own hand stitching projects. 
A huge "thank you" to each one of you who participate in linking up your blog posts, and to those who support fellow slow stitchers by leaving suggestions and encouraging comments for the bloggers.
To celebrate the 5th anniversary of Slow Sunday stitching, I am giving away two little DIY kits inspired by my mini quilt from the "BEE 'Lieve in Yourself" fabric by Deb Strain. 

hand stitching the corner label

Each kit will contain 4 different squares from the panel and some bee or hexagon sashing fabric. I will pick one number from the linkups, and one number from the comments on this post, so there will be two winners - a blog linker-upper and a commenter!


This is what I'll be working on today... hand quilting more of my Life is Beautiful blocks. I start each one with a little stitching around some of the embroidery designs, then I quilt around the circle that has been appliqued to the 4 patch background block, and then I quilt diagonal lines out to the corners to stabilize the block. I am enjoying this triangle of tailor's chalk that my friend Debby gave me. It works perfectly for marking the diagonal lines to stitch on.

Here are four quilted blocks on the design wall. 4 done and 59 to go! I plan to join them together in a quilt-as-you-go fashion (tutorial here).

Now it's your turn!
What are you hand stitching today? We love to see what you are creating with your own 2 hands.


   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to Slow Sunday Stitching where we celebrate the art of hand stitching! We encourage you to pick up a needle and thread, and S L O W L Y take some relaxing stitches today.

Last Sunday I finished hand quilting the first Life is Beautiful block. I did a bit of quilting in the embroidery, stitching inside the heart and following the swirling tree branch lines. Then I quilted just outside the appliqued circle, and in those middle seamlines that go out to each edge. That didn't seem to be quite enough so I also quilted a diagonal from the circle to the corners. I think that's enough to hold each block together, while still being not too labour intensive so that it will not take me another 2+ years to finish!!
One done and 62 more to go!

What are you hand stitching today? Do you have a take-along project that is travelling with you and getting finished slowly over the summer (or winter if you live in the southern hemisphere)? Link up your blog post below and share your slow stitching progress with us.


   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly link up for hand stitchers! Make yourself a cup of coffee or tea and join us in celebrating the benefits of slow stitching!

Because I am finishing up my last Life Is Beautiful block, I put them all up on the design wall to see how it's going to look.
Looks great if I do say so myself!
I decided to do this project in the quilt-as-you-go style, so I am hand quilting each block individually and once quilted, I'll join them together.

I spent time prepping a few blocks for hand quilting this week, so that's what I'm stitching today. This is the first block I embroidered, so it will be the first block I quilt. This is a perfectly portable project for dragging around with me this summer. 


What are you hand stitching today? We'd love to see your project, so link up your blog post below and share with us.


   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Celebrations

Welcome to Slow Sunday Stitching! I have two things to celebrate with you today. 
1) Canada turned 150 years old yesterday! There were parties, parades, picnics, concerts, and fireworks to celebrate. Even though it was a bit rainy throughout the day here, we spent the day outside celebrating with our neighbours and friends. 



2) And in between those celebrations, I finished the last embroidery block for my Life is Beautiful project! The last stitches were put in on the 150th birthday of Canada! This last block seemed to take longer than the other ones, but it's done now and ready to applique onto a 4 patch block.



Were you celebrating Canada's birthday this weekend? Or some other special event? 
Link up your blog post and share with us what you are planning to hand stitch today! 

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Slow Sunday Stitching

If you are a Mom, I want to wish you a very Happy Mother's Day! 
I enjoyed a lovely visit with my daughter yesterday, and will be visiting with my son and my Mom this afternoon. These are the chocolate covered strawberries that I will be eating today while enjoying my slow stitching... yum! 
I have to admit that the mothering issue I have been worrying about this week is that the staff at the Toronto Zoo are on strike. I can't help worrying about the baby animals there and wondering who is taking care of them. It really is none of my concern and I'm sure they have made arrangements for care of the little creatures, but this is the kind of thing that weighs on my mind, and why I NEED my slow stitching to calm myself down.

I found this great article on managing the intrusiveness of world news and social media over at Raptitude. I will be reflecting on these ideas today and figuring out how I can worry less, and relax more.
Let's slow stitch our way to a more relaxed and healthier lifestyle, shall we?!?!
This is what I am stitching today. It's the last hand embroidery block for my Life is Beautiful project. I finished the heart at the top of the block and most of the angel on the left this week. Today I'll be stitching the angel on the right.
What are you stitching by hand today? Link up your blog post below and share your project with us. As always I will try to visit all of our stitching links. If I'm able to leave you a comment (and I'm not able to do so on any Google + blogs) I will. And I encourage you to visit the link before and after yours, and offer some words of inspiration and support.

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly celebration of the art of slowly stitching by hand! We encourage you to slow down, breathe deeply, take a few stitches, and enjoy seeing the slowly created projects of hand stitching gurus from around the world.

I had a terrible flare of "gettingthingsdoneitis" this month, with many deadlines and not enough time. So now I have to recuperate, slow down and get myself calmed down. A few more embroidery stitches will be put into this Life Is Beautiful block. In fact my plan is to deliberately move SLOWLY like a sloth for the entire day. 
It used to be that the animal symbols of being slow were the turtle and the snail. But more recently the sloth has become the representative of slowness. Have you seen the Zootopia movie? Here's my favourite scene of sloths at the DMV:


It's Sunday, so slow down and stitch like a sloth!
And then link up your blog post below and share your slow stitching project with us.

   

    An InLinkz Link-up