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August 1, 2011

August Stitch-Along | Week 1

Welcome to the August stitch-along here on the Feeling Stitchy blog. Due in large part to my undying love of fabric, I've decided to take the stitch-along in a slightly different direction this month. Rather than selecting an embroidery pattern for us all to stitch together, I'd like to lead us in a month of embellishing patterned fabric with floss and stitches. It's a technique I first mentioned in this post from a few weeks back.

Feeling Stitchy August Stitch-Along

I've already selected my fabric -- a gorgeous print from Valori Wells' recent fabric line, Nest -- and rounded up some coordinating DMC floss colors. Well, I haven't exactly decided yet -- I'm still waffling between these two different color variants of the same print.

Feeling Stitchy August Stitch-Along

And when we're done, there are several fun things we can do with the finished project. Besides simply hanging it in a hoop (of course), we can turn our embellished fabric into pillows, mini quilts, quilt blocks ... really, whatever you can imagine!

So, are you in? For this first week, let's just focus on selecting a fabric and floss palette. Simply find a fabric that you love -- large scale prints are best, and a fat quarter should be plenty. I scanned some of my favorite shops and found a few other prints that I thought would be fun for stitching:

Prince Charming Honey Frog Prince, found at the Fat Quarter Shop
(I almost went with this one myself!)

Just Wing It Water Flower Garden, found at the Fat Quarter Shop




Valori Wells Wrenly Wren Gypsy, found at Pink Chalk Fabrics






Amy Butler Soul Blossoms Moss Sari Blooms, found at the Fat Quarter Shop


Summer House Bright Blue Audrey, found at the Fat Quarter Shop


I sure hope you'll stitch along with me, and I can't wait to see what you pick. To share your photos, just tag your stitching "AugustStitchalong" and add it to our pool. Happy stitching!

31 comments:

  1. I saw these in the flickr group last night and thought I missed the Stitchalong post. lol.
    I love embellishing fabric.. now which to choose?! :)

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  2. AWESOME AWESOME idea for a stitch along...i've always wanted to try this, looking forward to it! blest be :)

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  3. I think I'll join my first stitch-along! My first anything-along, really.
    I have a good stash of fabric to choose from, right now I'm thinking the Robert Kaufmann Cupcake print.
    I'm not quite sure how these stitch-alongs work, but I've signed up on Flickr, and I guess I'll just have to upload my photo(s) and tag it "AugustStitchAlong" ?

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  4. ooh...i like this idea. i was just thinking this weekend of looking through my stash to do just this thing. :) perfect timing!

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  5. I'm in! I'm not sure abut my my fabric yet, but I've been wanting to do this, after seeing AMH's hand stitching on her Totem print.

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  6. I haven't yet joined in with the Stitch Along, but this really appeals to me. I must have some large print fabric at home - I know I have some Amy Butler... Do we have long to complete it or do we have to get it done within the week?

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  7. Within the week?? Heck no, Wendy -- we have all month! Plus, there are certainly no rules. Play at your own pace, and have fun. How about just trying to select your fabric and floss colors within the week?

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  8. Oh fun! The push I need to try that out. As for your bird fabrics, I vote for the orange one, but I'll pretty much always vote for the orange one so take that as you will. :-) Now to page through my fabric stash...

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  9. New here and recently rediscovered my love for embroidery. I think I'll play this round. Just posted about my just-completed sampler:

    Begin Therapy Immediately

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  10. Oh and I meant to add, there needs to be a name for this technique! I know when I was discovering it I wanted to find more examples but had no idea what to Google. So...a contest to name might be fun?

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  11. I've been wanting to do something like this, and your SAL is the jumpstart I needed! I'm kinda giddy at the prospect of looking through my cupboards and picking out a fabric - it's like it all has a new light shined upon it!

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  12. I'm just learning how to embroider properly so I'm definitely interested in giving this a shot!

    ashley x

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  13. Yay!!! Great idea, I hope I have time. I completely missed the Gnome :( so many projects in progress... now to find some pretty fabric :D

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  14. I've been wanting to do this, so perfect timing! I've never joined along before so this will be fun. :) Now to decide whether to go with something I have or try to find something locally... I don't have access to a lot of the designer stuff around here so I'll see what I can find~with three kids as my advisers!

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  15. Great timing!! I'm SO doing this!! I just picked up some great vintage linen that would be great for this!! Yay!!

    Jenny

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  16. Great idea! I've been thinking about doing something like this and then mounting onto canvas to make a unique wall hangIng!!

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  17. looks like fun...........think I'll join this one too!

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  18. I just did something very like this with Aviary 2! Fun stitching.

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  19. I'm in! I too did something similar to this but besides re-embroidering the fabric I also added my doodle owl. You can see it on my blog or flickr account.
    All of my fabric is still in storage while we finish purchasing a home but I did pack my threads, needles, hoops and a little fabric in my suitcase. I have a piece that looks like fireworks (navy and white) that I wanted to add color to make it pop. I think I'll do that and then maybe a second piece when I get access to my stash!

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  20. I'm sure I have fabric I could use for this but I really think I need the perfect fabric so need to shop right XD

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  21. Oh My!! this sounds wonderful but I'm new to needlepoint, don't really remember how to embroider. Would like to learn. I have alot of floss. I think I'll just sit on the sidelines and watch.

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  22. Found your site while reading my latest copy of Sew Hip that I picked up today in New Zealand. I love this idea and think I will be off shopping in the next day or two so I can join in. Looking like lots of fun!

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  23. An excuse to get a fab fat quarter! I'll be joining!

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  24. Hmm, I'm already on a quilt-along but this stitch-along sounds too good to pass up! I'm off to select fabric and floss colors. :D

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  25. Ah, a smash hit! Can't wait to stitch along with this one :D Thanks for the inspiration!!!

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  26. This looks like a fun stitch along! Maybe I will join in...off to the fabric store!

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  27. I think I need to do a SAL again...it's been a few months...and I have SO many fun prints around.....which to choose...

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  28. I am just getting started in embroidery and am really excited about participating in this stitch-a-long! I have two fabrics which I am having difficulty choosing from. Once I get that done I'm set to go!

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  29. I just posted my pic in the pool.
    But iI was so anxious in starting the stitchalong challenge that i didn´t take a picture of the fabric and the floss.
    But I have 2 meters of that fabric at home, so I´ll post a picture of "week 1" later.

    I´m having a lot of fun stitching my skull.

    :]

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