I couldn't let this day,
February 14,
Valentine's Day, pass by without a visual chronicle of heart-filled stitchery.
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| Free-motion quilted feathered heart. |
This is a free-motion feathered heart on a warm-up sample. The solid
turkey red fabric allows the quilting to show. What creative things do you do with your experiments, swatches and warm-up pieces?
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| Hand stitched pillow case. |
I purchased a pair of vintage cotton pillowcases on an anniversary trip to Portland, Oregon with my husband in 2001. There was a rummage sale near the downtown hotel at which we were staying. On the left (in pink and mint green) is the progress the original needleworker made with this cross stitch project. I kept her stitching intact and continued work on the other flowers in a variegated red floss, with dark green for leaves and stems.
These vintage pillow cases are a connection between this anonymous needleworker and me as well as a happy memory of a special time with my husband.
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| Dresden plate made with Fabrications pre-cut strips. |
Here is a new quilting project I'm working on. I'm revisiting acrylic templates (fast and accurate as well as fun) and pairing them with a new favorite—pre-cut
Fabrications strips (the black and white prints). The dijon yellow floral fabric is from a new blender collection by
Blank called
Desiree. The salmon/red-orange fabric is from the new
Dahlia collection.
Creating things with needle, fabric and thread—whether by hand or machine—can touch our hearts or the hearts of those we care about. The stitching process is rewarding and calming, it offers inspiration and nurtures creativity, it can carry us through uncertainty and times of struggle, and is a means of rejoicing and celebration. It connects our past, present and future.
Happy Valentine's Day! May your hearts be full, and your spools never be empty.
