Where did this year go? It's wild to think I'm already at Week 46 of this project and only have a few more weeks to go. I decided to go a little more abstract/stitch focused for this week's entry. The next three weeks are going to be very text heavy pieces, so I wanted something a little lighter to get me ready for those entries.
When I was in Maine, I bought some embroidery thread from Cottage Garden Threads. I bought several different versions of their variegated threads and decided to try them out this week. The thread is wonderful to work with and the colors are lovely. I also love their packaging.
You don't have to put it on a bobbin! So wonderful and environmentally friendly. CTG was founded by a mother/daughter team in Australia and everything is handmade. I didn't buy these threads for a specific project, so I only purchased one of each color. I will definitely be buying some more from them in the future. I love how the ends are the same color. It's a wonderful intentional design choice to help with continuity when using variegated threads for a project.
This week's piece is my version of a battlement stitch. I talked about battlement stitches earlier in this year's journal. Battlements are typically done with the blanket stitch and create a pattern similar to what you'd see on top of a wall that has a battlement (how the stitch got its name). It's a repeating pattern. I love doing pieces like this since layering and connecting stitch lines brings me joy. I assume this is because I like to organize things and this feels like organizing stitched chaos.
Here's this week's piece:
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| November 10 |
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| November 11 |
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| November 12 |
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| November 13 |
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| November 14 |
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| November 15 |
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| November 16 |
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| Week 46 |
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| Weeks 1-46 |
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| Week 47's color is peacock. |
Programming Note: Next Friday would have been Keely's 8th birthday. My plan was always to do a post about him for his birthday week, and that's not changing now. It's probably going to be sad and I'm going to be sad, so I wanted to tell you that now. It'll also be cute, but sad cute.
WIPs and Joys from the Week
I'm officially starting work on my entry (entries?) for the
2025 Annual Woodlawn Needlework Show. I set this goal for myself after I went to the show earlier this year. Entries are due by February 2 so I have plenty of time. I'm considering doing two pieces: one is a two-part piece called "From My Grandmas' Kitchens," and the other is a version of the mushroom pieces I did earlier this year. My mom has original handwritten recipes from both of my grandmas, so I was planning on embroidering them on tea towels. I'm also considering adding a border on each one based on the pattern of each of their china sets. If I also submit the mushrooms, I'm only focusing on two of the designs and they'll be done as one piece. More to come on this as I get started on it.
I also came back to my Thelma movie kit this week. I want to finish it this weekend so I can start work on the Woodlawn pieces and start a piece for my brother.
I also started planning for the 2025 stitch journal project. I want to do a large piece next year and have decided to embroider all the fortune cookie fortunes I've gotten since I moved into my house five years ago. There are 71 total right now. I'll probably have 75 by the end of the year. I've always saved my fortunes. Usually I tape them into a paper journal but for some reason, I kept putting them in a little cup in my kitchen instead of taping them. This will be my embroidered version of taping them to a journal page.
Here are some photos I took of laying them all out on the fabric I'm planning to use:
Finally, it's holiday season at Trader Joe's so I went and made some questionable life choices when grocery shopping yesterday. Their holiday stuff is so good; I can't help myself. This is all for morale so it's fine.
I can report the Thanksgiving stuffing popcorn is best with a glass of red wine and a peppermint creme chaser.
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