Hi and welcome 😎! I hope this post finds you well! After the excitement of the wedding, it was great to rest this week. Things are back to normal here and I finally have a little bit of time to stitch. Nothing serious but it's a start.
Making Zen Retreat
This week is/was the Making Zen Retreat. These are free online mini workshops that all include a slow making process. If you choose the free option, you have 24 hours to watch the workshops of your choice. It didn't help that I realised that it was Tuesday before I remembered! However, I did watch several workshops - they were really great. I learned new things and reviewed a few that I already knew.
The first video and project I started was the zero-waste hand-stitched needle book by Karen Turner. I love her work and follow her on Instagram. This was the first workshop that I took with her and was very impressed. I'm going to look into taking some of her online workshops in the future.
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| The hand-stitched needle book so far |
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| Working outside on my zero-waste hand-stitched needle book |
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| One of Making Zen's Tuesday workshops |
I'm really hoping to finish up the needle case this weekend. I'm debating putting it together by machine or completely hand-stitching it. We'll see how I feel. Although it's not finished yet, this is my May Table Scraps Project. I purposefully added green for the colour of the month, and some of the stitches look like grass....don't they?
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| Green scraps and fresh (cut) grass? |
I used perle cotton and Tercel pearl to stitch most of it. Over the lovely figures in the fabric, like the owl and the bear, I stitched with a thinner King Tut variegated thread. A layer of pink organza covers parts of the bear, and is stuffed with scraps of perle cotton! What fun😁!
Update: I finished the needle case. Here are a couple of images. I do want to add a little more embroidery and of course, needles and pins 😉
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| The front of the needle case |
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| The back of the needle case |
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| Opening the needle case - I'll probably embroider my initials |
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| I just need to add needle and pins! |
The other project that I really want to try is this Japanese book bag. I made a copy of the pattern with a smaller piece of cardboard so that I'll be able to put it together later. It would also be cool to make some sketch books for the bag and then add my needle case in it. 😍
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| cardboard pattern |
Here are some of the other courses that intrigued me.
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Jen Strauser's mini landscapes are very cute. I love how she stitches them up in a spiral pattern and then adds them to a fabric-made book. Something else that I would love to do!
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I haven't watched Tiffany Smith's Up-cycled belt bag with printed fabric yet but hopefully I'll have time before it expires!
I hope that I've intrigued you enough to look out for next year's Making Zen retreat.
What I learned
- Before I start, I'm never sure if there's anything I want to watch but once I watch a couple of workshops, I'm totally hooked.
- I love doing little stitching projects - so these are perfect (except that a few a day is not possible!)
- I
'm looking forward tohad fun stitching up the needle case. I made onelast yearin 2022. I posted it on Instagram and in my Best of 2022 post.
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| Needle case 2022 |
I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties, including the 2025 Table Scraps Challenge. You may want to check them out before linking up below! Needle & Thread Thursday, Off The Wall Friday, Finished (Or Not) Friday, TGIFF, Monday Musings, Design Wall Monday, Sew & Tell, Put Your Foot Down, Beauties Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts, Slow Sunday Stitching,
Project details
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Scrappy needle case
Made following Karen Turner's Making Zen workshop
Size: 12" x 4"
Materials: commercial and hand-dyed cotton scraps, fusible interfacing, tulle, embroidery floss and perle cotton, flannel pieces, button
Techniques: hand and machine stitching, embroidery including button hoop
Free Motion Mavericks
Welcome to week 533 of Free Motion Mavericks! It was a very productive week! Thanks for linking up. Here are the projects from last week that included FMQ, ruler work or walking foot quilting.
Gretchen of Gretchen's Little Corner had a few quilts to share with us. The first two were compassionate quilts. Here is the first one. Gretchen quilted it in-the-ditch and through the purple chain.
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| Gretchen's Trip around the cottage, quilted in-the-ditch |
Here is Gretchen's Peter Rabbit quilt. What a beauty! She quilted it in an "X" pattern.
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| Gretchen's Peter Rabbit quilt |
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| Gretchen quilting her Peter Rabbit quilt |
Donnalee finished her very special Wisteria Wall Hanging. It took a while, but it's really great! Donnalee stitched every leaf and petal by free motion. Congratulations!
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| Donnalee's Wisteria Wall |
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| Details of Donnalee's FMQ |
Here is Melva's Fractured Emeralds quilt.
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| Melva's Fractured Emeralds quilt |
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| Details of the quilting |
Our last quilt today is by Quilting Gail. This beauty was made for the Irish Chain Blog Hop. It features Island Batik fabric and was made using the Accuquilt cutter. Gail quilted it using Silly Moon rulers; Rocket, Drop 2 and Drop 3.
It's now your turn!
The Making Zen Retreat sounds like so much fun. Love the ingenuity of the Japanese to fold fabric that results in packaging and carryalls.
ReplyDeleteHi Gwyned, the retreat was a lot of fun. Unfortunately there is only so much one can do in a day! The Japanese sure love folding paper and fabrics - in middle school, my son was the origami kid.
DeleteThe needle case turned out beautifully. Sounds like you've got a list of new and fun projects to spend time on this summer.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kate, I love how it worked out. I even got to finish a hand-stitched sampler (this week's post). I want to do more but it's time to get back to those projects I left behind! Thanks for dropping by :-)
DeleteI enjoyed many of the same workshops. There was such good information and inspiration! Nice job on the needle case. I didn't get any projects made, but have lots of ideas. Thanks for sharing in TGIFF.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you enjoyed it also Melva. There is always such interesting projects. I did finish Karen Turner's second project which was a stitched sampler.
DeleteI didn't watch an entire zen video but glimpsed here and there. This week was too busy for me. Oh how I wish I had made some time for this week's courses. I thought they said there will be another in the fall, so I'll keep my eyes open for that. https://www.makingzen.com/waitlist I love your needle book so much. I really need one for myself. Any chance you can tell me basic instructions on getting started on the cover? What size is it and did you add stabilizer or interfacing on the back? Thanks for sharing your finish and enjoy using it over and over again.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Elana. I'll send you more info by email.
DeleteYour hand-stitched needle book is so fun, Andree! I love all the different scraps and stitches you used for it. The owl peeking out really made me smile, too!
ReplyDeleteThanks Diann, I had to work hard to get that owl from disappearing under the fold! He's so cute :-)
DeleteSuper cute needle case, Andree! Thanks for sharing your project with the TABLE SCRAPS Challenge.
ReplyDeleteThanks Joyful, I wasn't sure what would be possible this month, so I'm glad that it happened!
DeleteThat retreat sounds fabulous. I saw someone making one of those scrap puzzle pouches and meant to look it up on the internet. Doing it right after I finish saying how much I love your needle holder - great job!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kathleen, since I didn't have many notes on the scrap puzzle pouches, I was able to find them online. They should be fun to make!
DeleteThose courses sound really interesting and I love you needle case :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Janine. They were just what I needed at this time. Now it's time to get back to my other projects :-)
DeleteSounds like some great classes. I like that needle holder
ReplyDeleteI really like your needle case, Andree! Sounds like the workshops would be fun. Thanks for sharing. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteCa en fait des vidéos sympas à regarder, et des jolis projets à réaliser ! Ton porte aiguilles est superbe, j'adore tes broderies. Quel oeil d'artiste ! Bravo, et merci de partager avec nous !
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