The Stitch Book: Week 37 (September 8-14)

Welcome to one of many fall themed pieces that will make up the next several weeks of the Stitch Book. I love fall. I love embroidering fall themed things. I can ignore the fact that it's still very warm outside by immersing myself in fall things. Enter this week's theme: tiny leaves. 

I love embroidering trees and leaves. There's something so soothing about making them. Leaves can be made using so many different stitches. I like to use the fishbone stitch, French knots, and satin stitch depending on what type of tree I'm making or if the leaves are on their own. This week, I focused on the fishbone stitch exclusively. I love how this stitch looks and how the shape can vary. I also realized it would be a great stitch for tiny pine trees, which will make an appearance between now and the end of this year's project. 

Enjoy the tiny leaves!

Here's this week's piece:

September 8

September 9

September 10

September 11 - If I turn it this way, it looks like a little pine tree! I love this discovery.

September 12

September 13

September 14 - you get two photos of today's entry. 

Week 37

Weeks 1-37

Week 38's color is maize. It's also the last week of the brown/neutral colors. The rest of the year will be shades of green and blue.

The Mushroom Farm Energy Series Goes Home & Other Fun Things from the Week

I've been sharing the progress on my series Mushroom Farm Energy over the last few weeks. I mailed it off to my friend and it arrived earlier this week. This series was so much fun to make and my friend loves it! You should definitely check out Star's Etsy store and buy some art. 

The shadowboxes were the perfect way to display these designs. I have more in a different shape that I'm going to be using for an upcoming project. I'm very excited to work with these boxes again. 

I'm also considering whether or not I want to start selling original pieces. My focus would solely be on original art, not kits or patterns. I feel like I have enough original designs that people seem to enjoy that this could be an  interesting next step for me. I probably won't launch anything until 2025, but I'm definitely thinking about it. I have all of the other fabric sample books and I think there's a lot of potential in using those materials for something outside of my 365 projects. 

I started decorating my house for Halloween last weekend. It's coming along nicely. I got three new glass pumpkins at Home Goods and am now thinking I need a few more of the black and white ones (I bought the only 3 at my local Home Goods.

I picked up some dew drop lights from Target yesterday and they are amazing! Look at how cute my Nugget ghosts look all lit up! (The Nuggets are the work of the wonderful Deb of Wild Rainbow Co. She has a Halloween drop coming soon.)

I'm not done yet, but will share some more photos once it's all ready and it's dark. It all looks better in the dark with the little lights on. 

I also tried part of an unhinged cheese pairing from one of my non-cat Instagram accounts, CheezyTalk withMadelyn. Madelyn is a cheesemonger and does a series on her IG featuring unhinged pairings. I've been watching them for most of the year, but haven't tried any yet. Last week, she featured cheeses paired with Krispy Kreme donuts and happened to pair a lemon-filled glazed donut with my favorite cheese, Mt. Tam from Cowgirl Creamery. Mt. Tam tastes like what would happen in butter and cheese had a baby, so eating it with something sweet and a little tart like lemon curd or the filling of a donut makes absolute sense. It's a little pricey, so I only buy it every now and then and happened to have purchased some before I saw the video. I pass by Krispy Kreme on my way home from lots of places, so I stopped and got the donut. 

I'm so glad I did. It was delicious. It was sweet and a little tart from the lemon and the cheese was exactly like butter on a scone or fruit bread. I would 100% eat this again. I also want to try one of the other pairings: strawberry goat cheese and a plain glazed donut. 

I hope you do something a little unhinged this week! Or if that's not your thing, be cozy like Keely in his new squishy bed. 

He had his teeth cleaned and a small procedure at the vet this week, so he needed a new squishy bed. He's doing well and should be off pain meds today.