Project a Month - Lolli and Grace

Do you ever come across a pattern that is so perfect, so beautiful to you, that you say to yourself immediately, I need to stitch that, and I need to stitch it exactly as it is, no alterations needed? For me, that is rare - because one of the fun things about stitching is the chance to make a project truly your own by tweaking the colors, changing the fabric, etc.

But the second I saw this One Meaningful Word pattern by Lolli and Grace, I knew I wanted to stitch it just as she did - I needed that pattern!

I mean, look at her stitching - all the bright colors, the green fabric, it's just an explosion of color in a way that is just perfect for me:

I particularly love Anne's Youtube video with detailed instructions of how to do the satin stitch portions. This video changed my satin stitch forever!


I HATE and dread satin stitch in general. I almost didn't stitch this pattern, because it was mostly satin stitch. But Anne's video truly made the difference for me - I learn best by watching someone else stitch. And Anne's directions are wonderful. I also love how no-pressure her style is, and that as lovely as her stitching is, she embraces imperfection and says there is no one right way to stitch anything.

Lolli and Grace also sells kits, with everything you need to stitch this pattern, but considering the fact that I now own every color of DMC floss, AND had just bought a stack of cotton fat quarters, with one in lime green, I thought, surely I can do this without a kit!

So I purchased the pattern, and did a MARATHON evening of tracing. I did a real meh job of tracing, because I couldn't see too well, but I decided not to care and proceeded forward, anyway!

Here is my first attempt at satin stitching, using 4 strands of floss. Not too impressive. I found that for me in particular, it was hard to control 4 strands of floss, so I tried again, on the right, with just 2 strands:

Maybe it's just me but I think it lays much flatter and looks better than my first attempt. So I restitched the other side, and decided to tackle all the satin stitch with just 2 strands.

Looking at my finished first flower, I was completely blown away by how nice it was looking:

Perfectionists, look elsewhere! But for me, this was such a leap in my abilities and confidence, and again, it was Anne's video that helped me most.

With my confidence boosted, I proceeded to tackle the rest of the flowers!

I do think using 2 strands on these long petals did change the look a tiny bit, but I still think they look pretty good.

It's hard to stop staring at this project - the colors are just so lovely and the gleam of the floss looks so nice when stitched this way!

Next I tackled the orange and pink flower - it's not identical it Anne's because of my wonky trace job, but I still like it.

Currently, I am stitching leaves. Instead of satin stitch, I am doing something more like fishbone stitch for the leaves - because I love the texture and center line it creates.

Thoughts so far on this pattern

I am LOVING this project! I can't believe my perspective has changed so dramatically on a stitch I used to hate so much.

I thoroughly recommend this pattern, if you'd like to stitch along with me, you can find it in Anne's Etsy shop: One Meaningful Word pattern. the instructions are very precise, the colors are delicious, and Anne is a joy to work with!

 

Satin Stitch - Love it or Hate It?

What do you think about satin stitch? Is it on your hated list? What is your least favorite stitch, that you'd like to improve?

Project a Month: Wrap up - Color Theory with Karen Barbé

How do you like that little peek of my Final Project for the Color Theory class with Karen Barbé? You'll see the rest of my project at the end of this post!

It's no secret now which color combination I chose, after a lot of internal (and external) debate on my last post...

I chose the Analogous color scheme, with a nice blue-green, bright yellow-green, and dark forest green:

DMC 597, 166, and 895 - you may notice one of these is a vintage floss that is likely well over 25+ years old. I love to use my vintage flosses if they are in good shape, as this one was.

I transferred my design with my trusty Aunt Martha's transfer pencil - I have been using the same pencil since I wrote my original How to Use a Transfer Pencil post, oh about 13 years ago! I think it's funny how I used to love vintage transfers and embroidery, and now my own embroidery is old enough to qualify. Way to feel old. Wait, not old... vintage. :)

Hope you love chain stitch, because I used lots and lots and lots of chain stitch! I decided to do my entire project in only those 3 colors of floss - so I diverged from the whole point of Karen's class - as she does encourage you to create a whole palette of colors. But I was so fascinated with the 3 colors, I wanted to try it and see what I thought of the finished piece...

Washing and Ironing My Project

Since the pink lines from the transfer pencil were showing through, I decided to give my project a wash when I was finished:

I soaked it in regular dish soap and cold water, and all the transfer pencil lines came out.

Then I put it on a towel to soak up the excess water:

Last, I turned it face down on the towel and ironed the back while it was still wet, to get it nice and smooth, without smooshing the textured stitches...

If you have a sharp eye, you'll see that any long, unsecured stitches got all wobbly and funky. I had to pick some of those out and re-stitch them, lesson learned:

My Finished Project

And here's my final project, all finished!

It was a fun experiment in simplicity, but I did get a bit tired of just 3 colors. I think an ideal number of colors for a larger piece like this is 5-6.

To make each area look unique, I used as many different types of textural stitches as possible!

Most of the piece was chain stitch, outlined in back stitch, using 2 strands of floss, but I also used stem stitch, split stitch, satin stitch, and my messy version of a Cretan stitch (see Mary Corbet's beautiful version on Needle n' Thread - Cretan Stitch). I had a lot of fun playing with texture in this piece, I think it made up a bit for the lack of variety in my color choices.

I really love how those little blue acorns look - I used split stitch with 2 strands of floss - time-consuming, but I think it's a lovely effect.

Here are all the other mini pieces I stitched, looking at them all together, I do think the best choice was the one I picked, or the one with red.

And here is my finished piece! What a fun project, truth be told, the main reason I took this class, was to be able to stitch that pattern!

Final thoughts

I learned SO MUCH from this class about color, and I spent countless happy hours thinking about colors, playing with colors, and it was just an absolute joy for me. So, do I recommend Karen's Color Theory class - absolutely! As I mentioned before the class is all in Spanish, but if you don't speak Spanish all of the concepts are covered in her book, Colour Confident Stitching.

Thank you for following along with me in this class - and stay tuned for later this week, when I reveal this month's new project!

Previous Posts

#2 Color theory with Karen Barbé
#1 Color theory with Karen Barbé

Wonderful Wednesday #68 - Little Dear

How wonderful is this lovely Embroidery Sewing Kit by Little Dear? I've loved the stitching, artwork, and design of Aimee Ray for a very long time, and I'm so happy to see her sharing her lovely sense of color by creating these perfect little kits to stitch with!

Kits are available in 4 different color ways, and include beautiful stork scissors in complementing patterns - they are all just gorgeous!

Aimee's Books

If you haven't checked out Aimee's books, you really should give them a look! They are full of lovely transfers you can easily iron on to fabric and stitch.

Just so you know, these book links are Amazon Affiliate links - clicking through the link and buying costs no more for you and is one way to support our volunteer reviews.

Doodle Stitching Transfer Pack

Doodle Stitching: The Motif Collection 

Embroidered Woodland Creatures: 50+ Iron-On Transfers Inspired by Nature

Wonderful Wednesday #67 - Wild Boho

Is it clear yet that I am really feeling the rainbow lately? It was no surprise to me that I adored this Fractured Color Wheel pattern by Nichole Vogelsinger, or Wild Boho, as she is known online. I LOVE this idea of using solid or textured fabrics to create a rainbow color wheel. I am not always a fan of crazy quilting, but the way Nichole does it really works for me!

Boho Embroidery Books

Nichole is also the author of two lovely books I have somehow never yet perused (I'll change that soon!)

Just so you know, these two book links are Amazon Affiliate links - clicking through the link and buying costs no more for you and is one way to support our volunteer reviews.

Boho Embroidery

Boho Embroidery: the Pattern Collection

Nichole is also teaching a lovely class on BluPrint called Boho Style: Mixed-Media Embroidery which looks really fun.

See more of Nichole on Instagram - @wildboho.