Week Fifty-Two: The end

The act of sewing is a process of emotional repair.

-Louise Bourgeois

I love this Louise Bourgeois quote. She's a big artistic influence for me and I think about her and her work often. Not only did Bourgeois teach me to love the spider, she's also a major influence for my 2023 project. She worked with/on fabric throughout her career, creating large textiles and figures from fabric, as well as smaller fabric collages. Her mother was a weaver, so fabric and sewing were always part of her life. She made wearable art as well, using her sewing skills to construct these items. I used to include the painting Soho Women Artists by May Stevens in my tours at the museum because Stevens included Bourgeois wearing a wearable sculpture in the painting. I'll take any excuse to talk about Louise Bourgeois. 

I taught myself to embroider back in 2006. I've told this story on this blog before, but the short short version is this: I was living in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and I needed something in my life that wasn't horrible. Embroidery was that thing, the emotional repair Bourgeois talks about. I've embroidered regularly over the years since, but it wasn't until the pandemic hit in 2020 that I returned to embroidery as the thing in my life. 2006 me was fine with making cute embroidered items; 2020 me needed a challenge. I made the Screams and a few other things, which led me to create this blog and last year's project and here I am at the end of my second 365 project. 

This year's project was very different from last year's. I wanted to do something a little less time consuming since the 2021 project took a lot of time and I wasn't able to do other projects. I didn't actually time myself, so I have no idea how much time I spent on the 2021 project, but it was a lot. For 2022, I tried to keep my stitching time to under 15 minutes each day (this happened most days). I wanted it to be a daily practice, but not as time consuming. I did time myself each day so I can say that it took 61.65 hours to complete the stitching portion of the 2022 stitch journal. The longest month was July (6.9 hours) and the shortest month was November (3 hours). The longest single stitch time was 40 minutes (on January 6 - it's a quote from Joe Biden) and the shortest was 2 minutes and 45 seconds (on October 28 - a long line of orange back stitches). 

I also decided that a weekly and monthly blog posting schedule was more manageable. I'll be keeping that schedule for the 2023 project as well. I hope to be able to work on a few other embroidery projects in 2023 (and some other kits I have on the way) as I work on the monthly stitch journal piece. 

I love this year's journal. While there are definitely things that aren't abstract within the piece, it's the most abstract piece of embroidery I've created. There are surprises all over the place; I think the unintentional dinosaurs and other other creatures are my favorite. I enjoyed hiding things and stitching to music. While I did use a variety of stitches, the simplicity of the back stitch was the true winner this year. It's elegant and odd at the same time. It can simply be a line or completely transform into a shape or a symbol with a longer stitch or a curve or angle. It was the stitch I used the most this year and I love how much it added to this piece. It's the most foundational stitch in embroidery and this piece would not be as awesome as it is without it.

This year taught me to just let the thread do its thing; it'll all come together the way it's supposed to come together. I also feel more ambitious and confident that what I make matters. I love this piece and I can't wait to see it up on my wall every day. 

The last recap of 2022:

December 25: Long line of green back stitches to end this section of the piece.

December 26: I think these stem stitches look like a praying mantis. What is it with unintentional animal and insect shapes in this piece? 

December 27: I miss the blanket stitch. I did so much of it early in the project, so it felt right to bring it back for the end. I need to work it into some pieces next year too. 

December 28: Combo blanket stitch and stem stitch. This week has also been about using up thread pieces and I found some good ones for the last few days of the journal. 

December 29: The last of the green thread - strong line of back stitches.

December 30: the last of the red thread for this line of chain stitches. 

December 31: I started with French knots, so I had to end with French knots (and the rest of the purple thread).

The last section - I returned almost to where I started. The first French knots are the ones on the lower right in a cluster in the 9/fish shape. 

Stitch Journal 2022, Fabric and embroidery thread (35 1/2 x 20 inches)

The back

What's left of the 2021 ort jar - I may try to make a Biscornu out of what's left over.

The signature - it turned out better than I thought it would. I hate stitching the number 2.

Other projects from this year:

Since I had some time off this month, I decided to complete a few kits I've had sitting around the house. The tea towel was one I bought sometime in 2021 and the dinosaur was from this summer. It's nice to work on a kit on occasion. The tea towel is part of a series from Sublime Stitching (I only have part one) and is now sold as a PDF pattern. The dinosaur is a PopLush kit. I bought it at Stitch Sew Shop in Old Town. I don't think this pattern is available on the Pop Lush site, but their kits are super cute, so I'm sure you can find one that you like. They feature Sublime Stitching thread and are great for any embroidery skill level. You can also find their patterns on Etsy. I also tried another Polaroid; this one came out better than I expected.

This year, I also completed two large scale original pieces, Sheep Metal and Goliath (affectionately referred to as Kevin), a Rex Manning Day tribute (I made two of these and sent one to a stranger who saw a picture of my piece on Twitter), two other kits (Cherry Blossoms and the cicada), one additional Polaroid, and part of the From the Back series (ongoing series - I don't know when I'm going to return to it). 

This was a present for my friend Kelly, so I didn't share it until after she got it. This is from our visit to Georgia O'Keeffe's house back in October.

Coming tomorrow - the 2023 Stitch Journal project begins!

My stitch journal journey continues into 2023. As I shared in last week's recap post, I'm planning on using clothing for this year's journal. Each month will feature a different item and motif or design. I'll share more tomorrow, but I did get a jump on transferring part of the January design onto the fabric. 

Thank you for being part of my 2022 stitch journal project! I appreciate the continued support and hope you'll follow along in 2023! Have a great New Year's Eve - remember to make smart life choices!!

Keely wishes you a happy 2023 and wants to make sure everyone sees him in his bandana so he never has to wear it ever again.