Stitch Meditation – 3rd Month Review
Looking back at the third month:
1/5th of the year into the 100 Day Stitch Meditation Journey, learning to breathe – one stitch at a time.
Stitch Meditation – Day 21 and 22
Have you ever purchased an item before you knew what to do with it? I was drawn to some beautiful sari silk ribbon at the Creativ Festival a few years ago. The variety of colours were amazing and I went back to the booth a few times, drawn to the display, but being overwhelmed with deciding which colours to buy – I couldn’t bring them all home with me. I am using one of the colours below. So pretty!
The problem I had choosing silk sari ribbon is multiplied when it comes to Oakshott cotton. They have so many stunning colours to choose from! Luckily, I have been gifted some fat quarters and eighths and therefore did not have to make a decision. Oakshott cottons work well with my hand dyed fabrics and I’ve kept every little scrap from projects. This stitch meditation project is the perfect place to be using these.
Stitch Resources
- Blog: What Makes Recycle Sari Silk Ribbon So Special? from Floating Pearl website
- Online Shop: Why Oakshott?
Steadily creating – One stitch at a time!
Stitch Meditation – Day 19 and 20
There are so many stitches available, yet I keep coming back to the running stitch. It is a versatile stitch.
Spacing the stitches and rows closer or farther apart changes the look of the finished piece. Using different size thread such as in the example above creates bold, or delicate lines. Colour too will make an impact. Choose one that blends into the background or one that is bright and colourful! So many options with just one simple stitch!
Stitch Resources:
- Tutorials: Hand embroidery tutorials by Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching: Contemporary Studio for Hand Embroidery blog
- Blog: Sewing and Stress relief from The Overlook
Keep creating and relaxing – One stitch at a time!
Stitch Meditation – Day 17 and 18
Slowly continuing to stitch and make marks on cloth. Trying not to worry when I don’t sit and stitch as I had planned.
Each square is an opportunity for experimentation, new colours, stitches and patterns are emerging.
Stitch Resources
- Blog: Cross Stitch and Mindfulness post by Oksana Wadhawan
- Article: The Calming Effects of Sewing Can Help People Express and Heal Themselves by Clare Hunter
Calmly and purposefully – one stitch at a time.
Stitch Meditation – Day 15 and 16
Searching for: What is the 100 Day Challenge returned a hit list of : 1,500,000,000 results 0.60 seconds! This is a wildly popular search. So I imagine that there are thousands, hundreds of thousands of people wanting to know about and then participating in 100 day challenges.
Searching for: 100 Day Challenges returned a hit list of: 522,000,000 results in 0.30 seconds. The list of examples are endless. It seems that we love participating in setting goals for ourselves. Groups that have set challenges include those that are: losing weight, overcoming gambling addictions, being happy, ending youth homelessness, and creating code.
Reasons to participate:
- improve productivity
- achieve business goals faster
- fast track a goal
- build positive habits
- achieve a personal goal
- create positive reinforcement
- achieve consistent progress
- create accountability
- hone a skill
So many options in how you can participate in these challenges – listen to a podcast, post your progress on Facebook or Instagram, sign up and pay for a membership, download an app, join an online group, join an in person group! We have never had so many options to make a change in our lives.
Stitch Resources
- Podcasts: Best 100 Day Challenge podcasts we could find (Updated March 2019)
- Website: #The100DayProject is a *free*, global art project. The idea is simple: commit to 100 days of making and sharing your progress on Instagram.
- Essay: Five Years of 100 Days by Michael Bierut
- Website: Gary Ryan Blair creator of the 100 Day Challenge
Create a positive habit that is reinforced through repetition – one stitch at a time!
Stitch Meditation – 2nd Month Review
Looking back at the second month:
In whatever form your particular journey takes, I hope you are enjoying it – one stitch at a time.
Stitch Meditation – Day 13 and 14
Roberta Wagner: Artist
Roberta Wagner is a mixed media artist who uses thread and fabrics in her art practice. I first saw Roberta’s work on Pinterest. Her artwork is calming, ethereal and beautiful. Not surprising since her work is inspired by gardens and a Japanese aesthetic.
Roberta originally began her art career in ceramics and paint. By 2012, tired of the chemicals and dust, Roberta turned to cloth, paint and stitch as her medium. Her blog post: Changing Mediums explains her decision to use textiles in her art practice.
Roberta is not a full time artist, preferring the freedom of not having to make money from her art. She says: “I have a right left brain thing and I have found over the years I like doing both.”
Not wanting to be a “technique junkie”, Roberta has a limited number of stitches she uses in her work. They are: French knot, simple stitch, occasionally seed stitch and a few that she has made up. She is going to learn to free motion stitch and incorporate that into her work. Roberta has also talked about making her own beads to use in her work. While she has made some colored porcelain beads, she doesn’t know if she will incorporate these.
Roberta works daily on her artwork, although that does not necessarily mean she is stitching. Roberta is painting more and will likely incorporate this into her stitched pieces. She is currently experimenting with painting on Washi paper. She loves texture and is “doing more intuitive, wild stitch lately”. I first linked to Roberta’s blog in my post: Stitch Meditation Day 7 and 8.
Stitch Resources
- Website: Roberta Wagner
- Instagram: Roberta Wagner on Instagram
- Article: McKay, Sarah. Why Crafting is Great For Your Brain: A Neuroscientist Explains.
Scroll through and read Roberta’s beautifully illustrated blog posts. Be inspired and try something new this week – one stitch at a time!
Stitch Meditation – Day 11 and 12
Rummaging through the container I prepared filled with scraps of my hand dyed fabrics, I pull out pieces I have forgotten about. These snippets of cloth are intriguing. Separate from the larger piece, where they once belonged. They tell a story unto themselves.
Layering stitches and ribbon to accentuate the beautiful colors and textures, small pictures develop.
Stitch Resources
- Article: The Intimacy of Hand stitching by Amanda J. Clayton
- Website: Textile artist Amanda Clayton
- Blog: Dreaming in Stitches a tangled yarn by Ann Pawley
I hope you are enjoying the process – one stitch at a time!
Pastel Travel Scarves Snow Dyed for Spring
February has been a great month for snow dyeing. I think we got most of our snow during this month. In preparation for spring weather, I dyed these scarves in a variety of lighter shades. The one on the left reminds me of Pantone’s color of the year: PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral. I am rinsing out shades of blue and green as well.
While I had the scarves together and was admiring the colours, my son picked up one of the snow dyed scarves and promptly named it: Pink Flamingo. I laughed and challenged him to name them all! So here they are:
- Lively Marsh
- Safari Dusk
- Soft Radiance
- Peach Cobbler
Can you match the name to the scarf?
Are you planning on travelling? These newly snow dyed linen/rayon scarves crinkle beautifully when washed and dried. They are perfect travel scarves. Just twist and put in your luggage. Shake out and wear. Machine wash and dry!
Stitch Meditation – 1st Month Review
I have been hand stitching and completed six squares in the first month of 2019. So far I have been able to keep up with the schedule I made for myself. Sometimes I have time and the will to begin a second square after finishing one. I have also selected fabrics I think will look good together, so when I sit down to do the actual stitching, I am ready to go!
You will notice a difference in the bottom right square. It was stitched for Day 6 and when it was first posted, there were no stitches on the white linen. But, I didn’t feel as if the piece was complete, so I added more hand stitches in purple perle cotton.
Looking back at the first month:
Where are you on your journey? It doesn’t matter if you haven’t started, just pick up some fabric and thread and make some marks on your cloth – one stitch at a time.