August Stitch-along | Week 4

Thanks to everyone who participated in the August stitch-along! There were so many great pieces this month -- too many, really, to show them all. I've collected most (if not all) of the photos from the Flickr pool and compiled them in a few Flickr galleries. You can always search Flickr for our tag, "auguststitchalong", to see everyone's pictures.

August Stitch-along | Week 1 Gallery
August Stitch-along | Week 2 Gallery
August Stitch-along | Week 3 Gallery
August Stitch-along | Week 4 Gallery
August Stitch-along | Week 5 Gallery

To close out the month, I wanted to show a few finished pieces and some more works-in-progress. If you're still stitching away, don't worry! We'd still love to see your progress over in Flickr.

Photo by j_q_adams (my piece!)

Photo by sewjenaissance

Photo by daisyeyes

Photo by letscallitlove

Photo by amyhood21

Photo by BohoIslandBaby

Photo by paperseaside

Photo by Savage Pink

Photo by Fiber Fairy

Photo by milly and tilly

Photo by madama

Stay tuned for another fun stitch-along from the Feeling Stitchy crew, coming soon!

August Stitch-Along | Week 3

I am SO glad to see so many wonderful (and diverse) contributions showing up in the Embroidery Flickr pool as part of our August stitch-along. I'm a bit relieved, too -- I wasn't sure if anyone would be as excited about this idea as I was. But it looks like you guys were excited, judging from both the number and quality of the embellished fabric projects that y'all are sharing.

Want to see some of the contributions? I thought so!

I absolutely love the bright and happy colors of the piece above, by Mom Walds Place. I love how she chose floss colors that are not present in the fabric itself for contrast.

bySaraLynn has made so much wonderful progress on her piece above. Her color palette is beautiful and her use of that contrasting bright pink really adds a new element to the fabric that wasn't there without it.

"Wow" is about all I can say about this fairy fabric embellishment, stitched by sewjenaissance. I can tell just by looking at it that it's a true labour of love.

I'm glad that so many of you are simply having fun with this project -- and nothing's more fun than the piece above. You've just gotta love these robots, stitched by fav_orite.things.

As of our last post, Savage Pink hadn't yet decided on a fabric. Well, she ultimately chose my vote, the animal print above, and has selected her floss colors. Can't wait to see this one come to life!

These birds, stitched by daisyeyes, are just adorable. I love the satin stitched detail on the red bird above!

Here are three more great starts -- and one impressive finished piece! -- submitted by (clockwise from top left): letscallitlove, Read the Book, DetroitMommy, and bob&be.

amyhood21 really understood and embraced this month's challenge, as evidenced by her gorgeous work-in-progress (above).

Finally, check out the fun direction in which Beadgirlj has taken her project. She started with the dotted fabric above -- a great choice for embellishment, really -- and thought way beyond just using floss.

She has completed four individual circle designs so far, which are shown in greater detail below.

I couldn't include all of the amazing pictures but have been collecting them in some Flickr galleries. Check out the links below to see all of the beautiful submissions thus far:

Week 1 Gallery
Week 2 Gallery
Week 3 Gallery

For next week's update I hope to start sharing some finished project ideas. Will you be framing yours in a hoop for hanging? Making it into a pillow? Quilt square? However you decide to finish your project, please let us know!

August Stitch-Along | Week 2

I'm excited to see so many enthusiastic stitchers joining me for the August stitch-along. For week 1 I asked you to simply find a piece of inspirational fabric that's just screaming to be embellished with stitches, and there were some GREAT photos added to our Flickr pool. Here are a few from some fellow stitchers:

Some fun chunky birds with black and white flowers, submitted by daisyeyes.

sewjenaissance also chose a print featuring a bird with some fun scroll-like detail to embellish.

knitsaholic posted this amazing shot of a work-in-progress that achieves exactly what we're shooting for this month! The design, the colors, the stitching ... perfect!

I think it's becoming abundantly clear that people love to stitch both flora & fauna -- and especially birds! -- as evidenced by the 2 fabric selections being considered by Savage Pink (above), and the hummingbird print seen below (by BohoIslandBaby).

Some folks haven't decided yet on their fabric.~PixieFey~ is still choosing between the Kate Spain print on the left and the fun & funky coral number on the right.

And Fiber Fairy has narrowed it down to the three prints below:

What do you think? Click on over and let them know which one you think they should choose!

The bold, rich colors of the floral pattern above (selected by amyhood21) are just perfect for this project. In contrast, milly and tilly is starting with a black and white print and adding soft colors with her floss selection.

Here's a beautiful color selection (and another bird!) from dixieniche:

I can't wait to see what Thread Wizard does with this amazing fabric selection!

And there are more! Unfortunately, due to permission restrictions, I wasn't able to post some of the photos here, but I've compiled them all in a Flickr gallery created especially for the stitch-along and that I invite you to check out.

It's certainly not too late to join in. (Shoot, I haven't even had a minute to make my first stitch!) Simply take a picture of your fabric and floss selection or your work-in-progress and add it to our Flickr pool. Be sure to tag your photos with "AugustStitchalong" to make it easy to find them all.

Next week: let's focus on starting our embellishment with some simple stitches. Think backstitching for outlines, seed stitching for fills, and maybe some French knots for flourish. I can't wait to see what you do with your fabric!

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.

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.

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

Melissa Averinos Dazzle, Jewell Teal, found at Fabricworm

Helen Dardik Too Muchery in Steel, found at Fabricworm

Valori Wells Wrenly Wren Gypsy, found at Pink Chalk Fabrics

Erin McMorris Summersault Hide and Seek Turquoise, found at Pink Chalk Fabrics

Anna Maria Horner Loulouthi Summer Totem Struedel, 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!

Let them eat cake

When I first decided to teach myself embroidery, I ran out and immediately purchased Jenny Hart's Sublime Stitching book. One of the techniques that Jenny introduced in her book was to start with an already patterned piece of fabric, and simply embellish it with embroidered details. (Anna Maria Horner does this to great effect, as well.) What a simple (but brilliant) idea!


I still haven't done it myself yet -- it's on my ever-growing list of to-do-somedays -- but I'm newly inspired by what Becky (aka MyFabricObsession on Flickr) has created. She started with an already-striking print from Tula Pink's Parisville line and went to town with her needle and thread.

Stunning, no? And that added flower? Genius.

What about you? Have you done this before with your favorite printed fabric? We'd love to see what you've created. And it sounds like a wonderful stitch-along idea for a future month, don't you think?

Hmmmm ... I'm slotted to host a stitch-along soon ...

The Scrappy { Hoops } - A Modern Swap

In case you don't know by now, Flickr is a hotbed of crafty swaps. I've participated in many, many great sewing and quilting swaps over there, and it seems like embroidery swaps are really gaining in popularity and momentum.

If you've read my other posts here on Feeling Stitchy, you know that I love to blur the lines between fabric, sewing, quilting, and embroidery. And if you want to see some examples of how these different elements can come together to create wonderful works of art -- all framed in a simple embroidery hoop -- look no further than the Scrappy { Hoops } swap.

The Scrappy { Hoops } a group "dedicated to creating and receiving the coolest modern and urban fabric hoops for their homes!" The insanely talented swappers in the group combine different materials and techniques to bring their visions to life.

But enough words. I've compiled a collection of beautiful & inspirational photos to give some flavor of what you can find in the group. Click on each photo to learn more about both the maker and the recipient of each piece.

Want to get involved? The group recently wrapped up round 1 of the swap, and I've heard some buzz about a potential round 2 ...

Photo courtesy of sandy (paperpoppies) on Flickr
Made by JenniferLGB

Photo courtesy of Sarah @ pingsandneedles on Flickr



Photo courtesy of Miss-Print on Flickr



Photo courtesy of Angela - fussycut on Flickr



Photo courtesy of Poppyprint on Flickr



Photo courtesy of stitches&scissors on Flickr
Made by asquared(w)



Photo courtesy of Miss-Print on Flickr
Made by {safieh}



Photo courtesy of rosaechocolat on Flickr



Photo courtesy of bearpawandbearpaw on Flickr



Photo courtesy of Aneela Hoey on Flickr
Made by sewdeerlyloved



Photo courtesy of sewdeerlyloved on Flickr
Made by yearofhandmade



Photo courtesy of badskirt - amy on Flickr
Made by creationsbyrachel



Photo courtesy of verykerryberry on Flickr
Made by safischer1



Photo courtesy of daveandsusi on Flickr
Made by verykerryberry



Photo courtesy of suzettra on Flickr



Photo courtesy of amandaquilts on Flickr



Photo courtesy of mccuisti on Flickr



Photo courtesy of sandy (paperpoppies) on Flickr



Photo courtesy of stitches&scissors on Flickr