Embroidery Samplers

 

I have been doing embroidery since I was about 9 years old.  It is always my go-to needlework when I am traveling or just want to relax.  But the one thing I have never done is an embroidery sampler.

Embroidery samplers were a type of needlework young girls did back in the 1700 and 1800s to show off the needlework skills.  Remember there were no machines back then, so girls and women had to know how to sew to provide clothes and bedding for their family.

The samplers usually had the alphabet, occasionally a bible verse, some flowers, people or animals stitched on it. Often times different stitches were used to create the design but much of the time it was just cross stitched.  If you ever find a finished sampler, you have a prize, especially if the creator put their name and date it was made on it.

Samplers seemed boring to me which is why I never did any.  But lately I have wanted to make a sampler of sorts.  Not the kind I just described but some picture to show off different stitches.  You can still find sampler designs that are printed on fabric in shops or on line (that was another thing, the designs of samplers from long ago were not printed on fabric, the young girls and women created the design from scratch).  But I wanted to create one uniquely my own.

So I started looking for ideas.  I found one sampler set up to look like a color wheel with different stitches in different colors in concentric circles.  I found another one as a quilt with 4 inch blocks each holding a different stitch.   I liked the color wheel idea but it just wasn’t what I was looking for.  And I certainly didn’t need another quilt.

So looking around the room to get some ideas, I then saw my logo at the top of this page.  I would make a sampler with the Heartfully Cheryl 3 heart logo.  I even decided to do the stitching just in the pink colors of the logo (well, except for the tiny heart which is white in the logo.  If I put this on white fabric I didn’t think I would be able to see any stitching with white thread so I am using a very light pink).

I first enlarged the logo and traced it on a piece of white cotton.

 And then I did the outline of each heart in a stem stitch.  That was my first challenge since the stem stitch is one stitch I always have trouble with.  It never looked very stem-y but almost like a lopsided one sided cross stitch.  But this time the embroidery fairies were with me and I think the stitch turned out pretty nice.

 

I decided to do just one stitch in the little heart.  Even on this enlarged version of the logo it is only 1 ¼ inches wide.  So I used a wonderful filler stitch called the seed stitch.  It is just little straight stitches randomly put all over the design in various directions.  It is easy to do and does fill up an area rather quickly and nicely.  If you haven’t tried it, do so sometime.

 

I am still in the process of stitching it so I will post some more next week.  

 

©  2019, 2024- Cheryl E. Fillion

 

The Bucket List – Plan it

  So you have decided to do one item off your Bucket List.  Great, this is when the fun begins.

A great way to plan it is to imagine your perfect Bucket List item.  What do you need for your item to be perfect?  Where would it be? Who would be with you?  When would you do it? If it is appropriate, what would the food be?  Imagine every detail about your Bucket List item.

In another blog post I mentioned wanting to go to Door County, Wisconsin.  For it to be perfect for me; I wanted to rent a cottage by the water and in a town with a quilt shop I could visit.  At that time, this was the village of Sister Bay, Wisconsin. 

Now when do you want to do your item?  People work better if they have a deadline.  Deadlines help with plans.  You need deadlines to make any arrangements, secure any reservations, etc.. Remember none of these plans are set in stone.  You can change anything and everything.  

The next step is to get support.  This was most important to me. Tell people about your Bucket List item.  They may be able to help with ideas, with contacts, with finances and most important, enthusiasm.  People want others to succeed and you will be surprised how excited they will be for your Bucket List.

For me my support group helped me with raising money for my trip.  At the time I was working at a quilt shop that did machine quilting.  Many people brought me quilts to do and asked that the money go to my trip. When I could, I honored their request.  Two friends in Wisconsin were my chauffer and tour guide since they had both lived in Door County.  And many friends gave me ideas.  Since I was renting a cottage, I had to bring my own sheets.  The bed in the cottage was king size.  Since I only had a full size bed, friends lent me sheets to take.

No matter what your Bucket item is, you will probably need money for it.  So how much do you need.  Is travel and lodging involved?  Do you need lessons for your item?  Do you need ingredients or supplies?  Remember to think outside the box.  What else are you going to need? 

For me, I would be traveling during a time I usually taught a summer session at the college. So I not only needed money for travel, lodging, food, and souvenirs but I needed money to pay the bills since I was losing the teaching income while taking this trip.  Will that be a similar situation for you? 

What else do you need to complete your bucket item?  If you are going to skydive, do you need lessons?  If your item is running a marathon, how do you start your training?

If you want to try a new recipe, where do you get your ingredients?  Make sure you set this in motion.  The earlier you prepare for your item, the better your item will be.

All these things will help your bucket item become the perfect one you imagine.  And as you plan out your Bucket List adventure, you are actually making the item become a reality.  Part of the fun is in the planning.

Now get on with your Bucketing.

 

©2017, 2024 – Cheryl Fillion