Hi and welcome 😊 Thanks for joining me today! I've noticed that for some reason, I now have many new followers. I'm glad that you're joining me on my stitching journey. Sometimes it's very busy here, but mostly I try to keep it slow and steady. This week, it's been mostly slow stitching as I estivate. 😁 I'm hoping that the expected cool nights will perk up my sluggish energy.
More Hexies
I've been enjoying making more hexie flowers using the English Paper Piecing (EPP) technique. It's very relaxing - there's no rushing it! I also love finding the right fabric to go into each hexie flower.
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| Hexies posing in front of one of my colourful art pieces |
Since I usually make hexies from my scraps, it's sometimes difficult to find enough fabric that match to make these larger hexie flowers.
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| Bright colourful large hexie flower |
I made this one with three pieces of purple scrap fabric that I got recently. They are so much fun!
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| Purple scrappy hexie |
I got a lot of scrappy dot fabric from a friend and I've been using quite a bit of it to make these hexies.
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| Very red hexie with dots! |
Mindful Stitching on Eco-printed Fabric
I just started a small embroidery piece. It's stitched on a piece of eco-printed linen. The eco-printing didn't take that well, but it makes a lovely background to the embroidery. The embroidery is about being grounded in times of turbulence.
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| Grounded embroidery piece in progress |
I used a double and single chain stitch for the tree and the feather stitch for the roots. I used these stitches after watching Mirjam Gielen's branching video on Patreon. She's a great teacher and uses stiches in very creative ways.
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| Tree embroidered using double and single chain stitch |
I'm still working on the roots. It took me a while to figure out how to make these since the feather stitch goes up instead of down. I finally figured out to start at the bottom of the piece and make my way up, while intersecting other branches. It worked 😊
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| The roots, deep in the earth |
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| Sketch with the branching of the tree and roots |
What I learned
- There were no backyard animal antics this week. I did have my coffee outside a couple of mornings but it's been so hot that the animals have all finished their foraging by the time I get up!
- I made these cute hexies. It's nice to have something to do that is relatively mindless and is quick and easy.
- Now that the studio is tidy, I want to take out the new fabrics I bought recently to make more hexies. Since they are mindless, I get bored very easily - so I need different fabric to play with!
- I love the small embroidery piece that I'm working on. It was great to sketch something quickly and then stitch it. I got a lot done in a few hours.
- I joined in the Community Stitching with the TextileArtist.org Stitch Club today. I got a lot further stitching the roots.
- Soon I'll have to figure out what goes at the top. I have a few ideas....😉
- I'm listening to the audiobook of Women's Work, The First 20,000 years by Elizabeth Wayland Barber. I read it about 20 years ago and heard a podcast about the impact that the book had.
Related links
- Hexies and Chipmunk Antics, July 10, 2025
- Hexies and FM Mavericks, June 26, 2025
- Mirjam Gielen on Instagram and Patreon
- Textileartist.org
- Women's Work, The First 20,000 years by Elizabeth Wayland Barber.
- Haptic and Hue, Episode #52 with Elizabeth Wayland Barber
Linking parties
I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties. You might want to check some of these out! Sew & Tell, Put your foot down, Off The Wall Friday, Finished (Or Not) Friday, Patchwork & Quilts, 15 Minutes to Stitch 2025, Oh Scrap!, Slow Sunday Stitching,
Free Motion Mavericks
Welcome to week 540 of Free Motion Mavericks! It was another productive week! Thanks for linking up. Here are the projects from last week that included FMQ, ruler work or walking foot quilting.
Kat of Scrapbox Quilts learned to FMQ watching and following Angela Walters. Angela sells this printed fabric so that you can follow along with her FMQ. The FMQ on this quilt is absolutely gorgeous. You really need to check out Kat's post to see that delicious quilting 😍
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| Most of the quilt, FMQ by Kat |
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| Details of the FMQ by Kat |
Vicki of Vicki's Crafts and Quilting has been busy making and quilting a table runner and some banners.
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| Lovely gray and yellow batik runner by Vicki |
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| Sunflower banner or wall hanging by Vicki |
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| Hallowe'en Banner by Vicki |
Melva of Melva Loves Scraps finished her Crown Royal quilt. She made a two-colour flange binding for it. . Check out her post for details.
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| Crown Royal Quilt with flange binding by Melva |
It's now your turn!
I really like your tree embroidery, very pretty and imaginative! Happy stitching!
ReplyDeleteThanks Gretchen. I did the embroidery very intuitively but now I'm stuck and over thinking it! I'm sure that I'll get back to it now that the heat is back.
DeleteVery interesting embroidery piece you are working on! Thanks for the shout out;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Vicki - I think that I'm now over-thinking the embroidery! Thanks for linking up - I really like your work!
DeleteI really enjoyed both your hexies (they are so fun to do) and your embroidery! I really appreciate the embroidery piece having seen so many trees completely uprooted due to storms over the past few years. The roots are a part of a tree you really don't get to appreciate until those terrible circumstances bring them "in view" so to speak. The added pefect touch is stitching them on the eco-printed base!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Vivian, it's so sad when grown trees are uprooted. I'm reminding myself to keep grounded.
Deletewow Andree - for the millionth time - I think my life would be better if we lived closer. You managed to pull together two of my favorite things EPP and cool A$$ embroidery all in one week. So ME! Now if you took up rug hooking I would say we were soul sisters - lol! All this to say - wow - and yeah that embroidery is HOT!
ReplyDeleteOh Nina-Marie, thanks so much. I do wish we lived closer but I love reading your posts. I don't think I've ever seen your EPP - I've tried a couple of other shapes but I always come back to hexies. I've continued working on the embroidery but I'm nervous since I love what I did and don't want to do anything to mess it us - but it's not finished and it will be what it needs to be! Take care :-)
DeleteYour hexies are really coming along. Your embroidery piece is lovely, very organic looking.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Kate. I'm nervous about going on with the embroidery since it's probably the best I've ever done but it's not finished, so hopefully the rest will be as good!
DeleteAdorables petits hexagones colorés ! J'aime beaucoup les pois. Bravo pour ta broderie, elle est pleine de sens et très réussie.
ReplyDeleteMerci beaucoup Frédérique. J'ai bien de plaisir a jouer avec ses petits hexagones. Ils me donnent beaucoup de plaisir! Je suis nerveuse de continuer avec la broderie - je ne veux pas la gâcher.
DeleteI rarely do any handwork these days, yet in my younger years my hands were never idle: stitching in the car, knitting while visiting, even once at a June staff meeting at school (under the table). Now it's all machine. Your feather stitches for roots look great; I remember having to wrap my brain around how to do that stitch too!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sandra - I love taking my hand work with me as I travel but it's getting more complicated because I'm not always sure of being able to thread my needle - I have to bring my magnifying lamp with me - it all adds up as I travel! I'll find out this weekend if it'll work.
Deleteohh that tree embroidery - so cool! love seeing your hexies grow!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Alycia - they are all so much fun to play with!
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