Practising my embroidery stitches ...

Learning some new stuff too....

About me actually......... hahahhahh... almost as much as I am learning about embroidery and embellishment.

For instance ... I'm totally anal.

This block...our first.... took me about 3 hours and 7 minutes of agonizing over before I got it pieced together... and was happy with the look of it.

Dare I tell you how long it only takes for Karen to put together an amazing looking block?  7 minutes!  Flat!  .... PLEASE go to see her beautiful work... it's worth it just to gawk at some of her postings.  The photos are enough to blow you away....

I'm consoling myself with a few things..... first, she has a lot more 'stuff' to choose from than I do at the moment ..... and......she has been doing it for several years now..... plus....as she says herself...it is not a race.  It is to make a lovely cloth for ourselves, that honours the traditions of women through the ages that have made, or pieced, or stitched, on any fabric or scrap of fabric they managed to find, buy or somehow secure ....

I'm going to start begging for scraps and, (all of a sudden, while typing),  I just remembered a lady up the block makes quilts........so, now,  I do know three people who sew ...maybe they have some useable pieces hanging around....and my sister says she has found a pretty doily with some cutwork ...  so maybe I will find or make a pretty box or container for all my lovely white stuff which I hope to eventually accumulate.  I've always loved white on white...just never got around to doing anything like this... but, now.......it will probably become an obsession.....

The first stitches I wanted to do were some my Mom taught me ... she used to do bits here and there .... little cloths and some pillow cases and one table cloth are all I really remember her doing... but, she did know how to embroider and so daintily. She always worked so tiny and I find I do the same with a lot of things... how we become our parents in so many ways.... without even realizing it.

The first embroidery stitches I ever learned.... Chain Stitch and French Knot.......how did I do Mom? Personally I realize quite a bit of practice is needed...it's been awhile since I embroidered..... but, I know she would have said how wonderful they are .... she was always our biggest cheerleader in all our endeavours.

My cloth is underway.