More Zen Stitching and Free Motion Mavericks

Hi and welcome! I did some hand-stitching on a sampler that I started in Karen Turner's class last week. We had lots to do!  I finally found the fabric to bind the Floral Fusion wall hanging that I started last September with Denise of the Quiltery. There's going to be a finish in the near future!😍 

Slow-stitching Sampler

In her Making Zen class, Karen also showed us how she makes lovely hand-stitched samplers which she incorporates into a journal. I haven't worked on a meditative stitching piece in ages, so it was great to get  back to it. Karen uses fusible interfacing as the base and then irons on scraps, covered by a transparent fabric like tulle or organza to keep everything together. I did the same thing but added a piece of flannel at the back to make the sampler sturdier and easier to stitch.

Stitched sampler based on Karen Turner's workshop

I used mostly hand-dyed scraps for this sampler as well as many different types of thread, perle cotton and yarn. As long as it fits in the needle, it can be used 😁. In the end, the piece reminds me a little bit of a landscape, with the spiral sun at the top, many vines and even rain drops! 

My son's latest hobby is 3D printing. He made a box to place at the back of the printer to collect the scraps of plastic (we call it plastic poop! That's what happens when you have a dog 🐕) So I used three of these in the piece. One is black, the other black and white and the last one a gray, which happens when the black and white plastic fuse together. All of the plastic pieces have some kind of hole, so they're perfect for stitching. Apparently he now has many colours of plastic so I will get more colourful poop for my art making.

In the closeup, you can also see scraps of yarn and perle cotton placed under the tulle. 

A closeup of the plastic pieces and scraps of yarn

I've now placed it in my Mindful Meditation Journal.

Sampler placed in my Mindful Stitching Journal

This side - bottom!

I was Poppy sitting earlier this week. What a cutie! 

Waiting for the squirrels - in the jungle that is my 
backyard right now!

What I learned

• I was happy to have something simple and fun to stitch as my energy waned. 
• Poppy was a great distraction and I'm thankful that it was cool out for all of those walks!
• Poppy is gone and the heat is here, but the evenings will be cool, so all is good!
• I spent some quality time in my studio looking for the fabric to make the binding for the Floral Fusion wall hanging. When you use scraps, it's not always easy to find enough binding fabric.
• I took the opportunity to clean up in the studio. It's not great but it's less chaotic. 
• I'm linking up to the June One Monthly Goal and will finish this piece, hopefully sooner than the end of the month! I did finish FMQ the empty blocks a while back, so it really is all about the binding.

Floral Fusion ready to be bound

Related links

• Making Zen and Free Motion Mavericks, May 30, 2025
• Floral Update and a Finished Piece on Free Motion Mavericks, October 16, 2024
• Floral Fusion and hand-stitching on Free Motion Mavericks, September 05, 2024
• Floral Fusion Sew Along (finished) with Denise at The Quiltery

Linking parties

I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties, including the One Monthly Goal. Monday Musings, Sew & Tell, Put Your Foot Down, Needle & Thread Thursday, Beauties Pageant, Off The Wall Friday, Finished (Or Not) Friday, TGIFF, Patchwork & Quilts, 15 Minutes to Stitch 2025, Oh Scrap!, Slow Sunday Stitching, 

Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to week 534 of Free Motion Mavericks! It was a productive week! Thanks for linking up. This week there were lots of quilts in progress. Here is the project from last week that included FMQ, ruler work or walking foot quilting. 

Kat of Scrapbox Quilts free motion quilted this lovely pink and brown quilt following one of Angela Walter's video. 

Kat's FMQ pink and brown quilt

Here's a look at the back where you can see the FMQ better. 

Kat's FMQ as seen from the back

It's now your turn!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter