Monday, January 25, 2021

Slow but Steady

So I've been working on my ABC Max sampler from Dropcloth for a full two months now, and it's still pretty slow stitching. But finally, over the weekend I finished all of the interior designs and was able to start in on the alphabet!

Not a fan of doing the satin stitch, I decided to outline all the letters in a chainstitch. I've chosen four of the darker perle cottons in my thread stash, and will mix those up as I work randomly through the alphabet.



So considering I managed to do four letters the first night I worked on them, I don't expect them to take too long. And I'm looking forward to that 'rainbow' frame, and plan to refer back to my Disco Nap sampler for color inspiration, as I really liked how that one turned out. 

Anyone else machine-sew during daylight and hand-stitch in the evenings? It's been a good routine for me these past months...

11 comments:

  1. Your hand stitching is beautiful. I love all the colors. It looks so amazing! I hope to make a sampler one day. Enjoy your day! 🌻💐

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  2. Wow, that's great progress! I was curious about the order you were planning to stitch everything (now I know). :)

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  3. I've been watching you doing these and loving them. just learned that our LQS got some drop cloth samplers in and I'm itching to go get one. I'm not a fan of satin stitch either. love your chain stitch outlines, perfect solution

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  4. For a long time I’ve machine sewn in the day and saved ‘hand’ work for the evenings, whether that is hand piecing, hand quilting, embroidery or quilting. I probably have more ideas and plans for projects that require handwork, than I do plans for machining. And probably because the handwork takes so long. Your alphabet is looking absolutely delightful. I like your idea of chain stitching the letters. I think that will keep it light and airy!

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  5. Or knitting, not quilting! Oops, I didn’t read my comment before I hit ‘publish’!!

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  6. This is such a treasure piece - love, love your stitching!

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  7. Now that I'm retired, I sew and piece during the day and have always done handwork in the evenings. When working, I only got to sew on weekends. I think the evening handwork is directly related to tv watching. I don't watch much tv these days; but, I still like streaming movies while I do handwork.

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  8. Looking good Debbie. I'm doing that routine right now. Machine by day, hand by night. Finally, finally stitching my 100 days of circles that were all prepped last year. Just wish my eyes and fingers could handle it better.

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  9. I too machine stitch in daylight and hand stitch at night. I dragged out a hand stitched 18"block at a time. It has 16 blocks done in a Celtic pattern [ but I have decided to do only 9. It began in 1999, so it is time to finish and let it go. I have done small drawstring bags with free form embroidery to use as gift bags. Somehow the hand stitching relaxes me at night.
    Daytime is for the various charities I sew for. So glad I can use my skills during this difficult times.

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  10. OMG! This is GORGEOUS!
    I haven't embroidered for probably close to 50 years but this project almost :) makes me want to do so again. Well done!

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  11. Is this sampler avail for purchase? I love it and can’t find on Etsy. Thanks!

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