Stitch Club :: Kantha

A few weeks ago, I decided I really needed some handwork to work on in the evenings. My Teeny Tiny Trip had been a semi-long-term project (two years), and it was followed by a hand-stitched mini I started during our European vacation last year. Then I needed a new project, and I hunted down a Dropcloth Sampler I'd started many moons ago. I'd say I was about half done, and since then I've actually finished it!

I was already mulling over what to work on next when I saw Alison Glass post about her new Stitch Club. I went and read about it and joined right in.

"A Hand Stitching Club With a New Theme Each Month," Stitch Club sounded perfect.... some community via Instagram and a private Facebook group, which I really enjoy; and a chance to focus on a variety of types of hand-stitching. In fact when I received the first 'journal,' I was really impressed and excited to get started.

So jump forward a few weeks, and I just finished my first kantha-stitched project, a 12" x 24" pillow.

All the stitching lines were marked before I got started, with a hera-marker. Most of them stood the test of time as I did my stitching. Just the whitest of the fabrics needed a little extra marking midstream.

But otherwise, the stitching went very well, and I found it very relaxing. I used a mix of neutral fabrics found in my stash, and #8 perle cotton that I had on hand. I had in mind to made something that would coordinate with the quilt on our bed, and these quiet fabrics fit the bill.

Probably the most curious thing about this type of stitching for me was the leaving tails of thread to deal with at the end. Once done with my stitching, I went ahead and tied my threads off for added security.

For the back of my pillow, I once again used the lapped zipper tutorial by Pile O'Fabric. I would have loved an exposed metal zipper on this one, but I didn't have a workable size on hand, so opted for the lapped method with a standard polyester zip.

SO, I'm really happy with the finished pillow, but even happier with how much I enjoyed the kantha, or running-stitch, stitching. Totally hope to try it again.