Month Five/Week Twenty-One: This was a good move

As you may recall, I was a little suspicious of moving the fabric the last time I did it. I really love the other side of the piece. It's one of my favorite things I've ever made and I was uncomfortable moving away from it. The other side of the fabric was so open and naked. How would I ever fill it? I'm sure I'm not the only artist to have these thoughts about starting something new.

I've filled the space and am really enjoying this side of the piece now that I've spent some time with it. I'm enjoying the flow of it and how it's all coming together...at least in my head. My goal is to work on this side through my birthday, June 11, and then move the fabric again. There area a few more shapes and stitches I want to add before the next move. I've been trying to use stitches I haven't used as much on the other side and continue the use of longer lines of back stitches to connect the full piece. 

Best part of this side so far: the unintentional dinosaur I made last week. 

May 22: Yellow french knots

May 23: Some additional back stitches. This was the shortest piece from this month since we were headed home and I didn't have a lot of time before we had to get on the road.

May 24: Unintentional dinosaur! How exciting is this!?!

May 25: I was glad I took the extra day off. There was a lot to process this week and I don't think I would have been particularly useful at work.

May 26: I love the tete de boeuf stitch. I have plans for these little guys later this week.

May 27: More French knots. This side is definitely heavy on the French knots.

May 28: The green back stitch to create some additional shapes.

May 29: A combination of back, stem, and chain stitches.

May 30: I haven't done a running stitch yet, so I added a line here.

May 31: yellow and orange French knots to end the month. I was supposed to add to the fish design, but didn't feel like it. I may come back to that part of the larger design, I may leave it as is.

Five months of stitch journaling.

WIP/What's coming up in June

I finished the first abstract piece of my From the Back Series. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I selected the back and stem stitches for this first piece. When you look at a back stitch from the back, it looks like a stem stitch AND the stem stitch looks a lot like a back stitch. I liked the play of these two within this design and you'd really have to know stitches to know which is which from the back. 

The front view and the back view. 

Close ups of the back view - the back stitch appears joined because the needle is moving back and forth when the stitch is created. The stem stitch appears as a single row from the back because the points of contact with the fabric move in a straight line. 

I plan to complete at least one more abstract piece in June (maybe two if I can get my act together). I want to add the split stitch to this combination for the next piece. 

I'd also like to try a theme for the stitch journal at some point this month. I'm thinking of picking seven songs and using them as the inspiration for a week of entries. I remember reading about an artist (of course I can't remember the artist) who used to paint to different genres of music and let the mood of the music inspire the work. I'm thinking of trying something similar. More to come on this idea.

Lastly, I'm teaching my first embroidery course this month. I'm part of the planning committee for one of the philanthropic groups at work and we're trying out "master classes" to raise money for our charity. I volunteered to host the first one and will be teaching people how to use the back stitch to create an embroidery piece. I'm getting the kits ready to send out to people this week. I'm excited and nervous, but mostly excited. I may practice filming myself this month since I'm not used to showing my process while I work.