I haven't been doing a lot of quilting, but I'm now on day 25 of my #100dayschallenge on Instagram 😊

More stitching in 100 day challenge

I was having fun, then I got bored and then made flowers and enjoyed it again! I guess that the lesson in all that is to figure out how to make a project fun once it starts getting boring. Since I'm making the rules as I go along, it was all up to me.

I'm going to recap but I'll give you a quick version since my last post was on Day 8!

Day 9 - Threaded Chain Stitch

Using 3 strands of Bengal marigold linen thread for the chain stitch, and Honest Yarn lace linen in lac for the threaded stitch.

Threaded chain stitch

Day 10 - Tulip Stitch

I wanted to put something interesting inside the hexie. Since the flower on Day 6 was a real hit, I looked for another type of flower. This one is made with a tulip stitch, which is a variation of the chain stitch. The leaves are detached chain stitch and the stem is...stem stitch!

Tulip stitch flowers

Days 11 to 13 - Whipped chain stitch and Satin stitch

I got a bunch of new threads and so tried some of these out on the box within a box designs.

Deciding what threads to use

The outer boxes are all chain stitches and are whipped in different patterns. The center boxes are satin stitched.

Six box within a box, whipped with various threads

Whipped chain stitched with
satin stitch centres

Days 14 and 15 - Herringbone stitch

I practiced and did two days of herringbone stitches. On day 14, they were in rows and on day 15, it got tricky and circular. If you notice something weird about the circular pattern it's because the stitching is outside of the spiral! See "What I learned" below for more details.

Herringbone stitch in a circular pattern

Herringbone stitch in rows

Days 16 and 17 - Straight stitches

I used some straight stitches to fill in the diamond shapes within the diamonds. I found these designs in the Joyful Daily Stitches book that I mentioned in my last post. It was perfect - simple but interesting.

Interesting designs using simple straight stitches

Day 18 - Buttonhole Wheel stitch

I had free motion quilted (FMQ) a design that didn't quite work out - so I just covered it with the buttonhole wheels. The centre of the wheels are not very successful attempts at Reverse Bar stitches.

Buttonhole Wheel stitch

Day 19 - Running stitches

I was getting bored of stitching within small designs, so I started stitching the background with running stitches. This is done with Bengal linen thread in Indigo. I took advantage of my day to work in the Parks Canada National Library to take some pictures - I love their index card cabinets, even if they're not used anymore.

Adding running stitch to the background

A great picture of the index card cabinet

Day 20 to 22 - Creating a flower garden

On day 20, I made the stem of the flower pattern using Alternating Up-and-Down Buttonhole stitches. On day 21, it was time to add the Oyster stitches. That took me a few days to ~~master~~ not mess them up too badly 😊 Finally on day 22, I added some colourful French Knots to add to the flower garden.

Stem and buds in stitches

A border of flowers in French Knots

Day 23 - Pistil and Stem stitch

I love this interesting plant in stitches that are easy and elegant!

Lovely plant in Pistil and Stem stitch

Day 24 - Buttonhole stitches

I decided to keep it simple and fill the smaller box within a box designs with 12 wt. thread.

Adding buttonhole stitches

Day 25 - Running stitch

I finished adding running stitches to the background of the centre panel. I love the secondary pattern that the space between the stitches makes.

Running stitch in the background

What I learned

I'm glad that I kept notes, because I've forgotten most of what I learned!
For the chain stitch using 3 strands of the Bengal linen (day 9), I will use beeswax the next time I use more than 1 strand (I found my beeswax as I was writing this!)
The herringbone in a circular pattern (day 15) was not supposed to be outside of the spiral shape! I thought that I was starting in the centre but I wasn't. It's safer to start at the tail, like that you're guaranteed to be within the spiral shape! It is pretty cool though. 😎
So now what? I'm trying to figure out what to do with the rest of the border. Do I just finish it up in FMQ or do I keep embroidering a little more? Let me know if you have any ideas!
Update: To see the final image of Mixing it up! (I finally though of a name), go to the bottom of my next post.

12 comments:

Frédérique - Quilting Patchwork Appliqué21 September 2021 at 02:26
Beautiful stitches! J'aime beaucoup la Whipped chain, et les pistils. C'est une belle pièce d'art textile !
Judy Hansen22 September 2021 at 11:41
Hi Andree,
It was very interesting to look at all your pictures and read about each day of your challenge. Embroidery is so relaxing for me, and I enjoyed your blog post today very much. Thanks for linking with Design Wall Mondays linky party. Hugs, Judy
Kate23 September 2021 at 06:50
A very fun project. What a great way to learn and practice a few new stitches.
Janine @ Rainbow Hare26 September 2021 at 17:44
This is beautiful. I enjoyed the close-ups of your stitches :)
For the love of geese27 September 2021 at 14:26
Beautiful, I especially love the tiny flowers. Thank you so much for linking up to Put your foot down.
Alycia~Quiltygirl28 September 2021 at 09:12
Beautiful stitches!! I like that you found a way to make it fun again!!