Week Nine: Building

Using ort jar thread is messy. My original plan was to simply dive into the jar each day and find a usable piece of thread (or a few usable pieces) and stitch on my merry way. That is a the rom-com musical number version of how this project works (also, someone should write a musical about embroidery projects...probably...maybe not). This week I came to terms with my stitching reality and decided to organize the thread. Sort of. It's still a work in progress. For now, I'm using three bins to separate usable threads by color families. 

I don't know that this is the solution to my mess, but it's the one I'm going with right now. I can work through the thread I've already sorted first, then do another sorting session from the jar. 

So much thread, but how much of it is really usable? That is the question.

This system made it easier to create this week's stitch journal entries. While I didn't have a theme when I started this week, I definitely see one as the week ends. I'm building out the piece. I tried to focus on adding layers where it made sense and creating places where more can be added later. January and February were very compact; I didn't move the hoop during either month. This month is about expanding those boundaries and building our more space for the coming months. Let's see if I can keep this going for the rest of the month. 

February 28 - added chain stitch around the fish

March 1 - Happy Mardi Gras! I was going for a bead being thrown/caught in a tree vibe. It's also being added on top of another piece. (French knots)

March 2: zig zag over back stitch. I don't know if the zig zag stitch is a thing in embroidery; it is in hand and machine sewing, so I'm going to pretend it's also an embroidery stitch if it isn't.

March 3: I love embroidering leaves and it's been sort of spring-like here this week. I also set this up so I can add to it later. (fishbone stitch)

March 4: a trail of French and colonial knots. I love knots and this was my first attempt this week of really going outside the confines of the border made by January and February's entries.

March 5: In my thread sorting, I came across two long pieces of thread and needed to use them today. This is a combo of long back stitches and stem stitches. I need to work on my stem stitch turns.

Sheep Metal is almost done! I finished the sheep this week (eleven to be exact). Next week, it's onto clouds.

Which brings me to my next project: a series from the back. This is something I played around with during last year's project. Today's entry is really cool from the back, so it made me realize this is my next project. I want to build from understanding what the stitches look like in reverse to creating a piece designed specifically from the back. More to come as I get started with this project!