I did my piece for K3NCloth Tales' slow stitching project.
This week R1 was Raw Edge and I expanded to include Red, Raven, and Raffia.
I chose the piece in the middle with these colors then appliqued raw edge pieces in those colors all the way around one piece at a time. I left my binding edge clear on the left hand side.
I used my new to me applique needles but it was a bit of a challenge where the layers were thicker.
I used Running Stitch in the matching colors.
My piece for the O Community Choice in the A to Z Slow Stitch Project hosted by K3N Cloth Tales.
I wanted to document the process of creating a cut out patch Opening in a piece of fabric based on this video.
I chose Orange polka dot fabric and trimmed it to 8" W x 7" T. I cut a piece of white fabric to the same size.
I traced the circle Opening with a glass container and stitched it with the back stitch. I cut out the center of the circle leaving a seam allowance. The allowance was clipped to permit it to turn when I turned to the back.
I found a piece of fabric with a pleasing image - one of a hare which fit in the circle Opening. I trimmed it to be about an inch larger than the Opening. I invisible basted the hare fabric to a 100% cotton white foundation layer.
I used several colors of embroidery floss to frame the circle Opening with rows of running stitches. I add the label to the piece to ID it's place in the book.
This is my piece for K3N Cloth Tale's 2026 Slow Stitch project A to Z.
We are on O1 - The prompt is Organic. I cut strips of fabric with Organic curvy lines in colors that start with O. Orange, Oyster, Orchid, Olive, Ochre. I used a couching stitch with coordinating floss to adhere them to the basic fabric.
After looking at it for a day or two I decided I need something more Organic so I cut some Organic shapes from paper and traced them onto the strips then stitched them with Onyx (black) floss.
I am happy with this one.
I am following K3N's Slow Stitch project for 2026 where we do stitching A-Z. One week K will choose a prompt then the other week it will be a Community Choice prompt. We are free so anything that works for us. We are starting the second half of the alphabet and the year.
I chose Needlework, Nature and Ninety Degrees for my piece. I tried to include as many elements of Nature as possible - flowers, mammals, birds, fungi, sun, wind, clouds, grass, and insects. I framed the Needlework with 90 degree corners in Navy.
This was a tough one. I have changed my top piece of fabric because I ran out of the beautiful linen. This white cotton is more tightly woven than I would like. I will keep looking for an old sheet that would work better.
I am following K3N Cloth Tales' Slow Stitch Challenge - A to Z of slow stitch.
This week is community choice for M.
I chose Mail. I created an envelope in Moss Green, a card from Marigold fabric, I added 2 Marine Blue squares, a Maroon Heart and a bit of Mesh.
I put a stamp in the top right hand corner with Mountains and a Moon.
I put words on the inside of the card in Midnight Black thread.
I added a snap to keep the card closed. I could have just tucked the card in the envelope.
We are at the half way point.
I am following K3N Cloth Tale's Slow Stitch project for 2026.
We are doing A-Z in slow stitching. This week the prompt is Inchies to which I added Ivory and Indigo.
I prepared my linen layer with a cotton foundation and invisible basted it.
I added 9 Inchies on the left Indigo dye fabric, in the center Ivory squares and the right plain Indigo squares. I stitched them down with a running stitch in contrasting thread. Added something in the center of the square.
Added my page indicator.
This week's prompt was Haiku but I chose Hills instead. My piece also includes Hamlet, Houses, Home, Heart and High Street.
I cut my Hills from 2 shades of green fabric and stitched those with running stitch. I added a High Street in the front with grey fabric. I added a deep green polka dots fabric where I just put a small stitch in each dot.
I painted the sky with my Derwent Inktense colors applied with a brush and dried with a hot iron.
I added some sun in the corner and a couple of white clouds in the sky. I then added 5 houses with small bits of colorful fabric which becomes a Hamlet. I gave them peaked roofs. I added a pink Heart to the center one. These are also Homes. In the UK the main street is called the High Street. This turned out really well.
The prompt was Hexagon. She taught a new way to do Hexagon in stitching. Mine turned out elongated.
I chose a variety of honey colored yellow thread from my ORTs tin.
Make the vertical stitches, offset the second row then wrap between the rows.
She taught a super easy Hexagon accent which I made from golden yellow fabric onto which I added a Heart Button. I added a bee button as well to go with the Honey theme.
This week was community choice of Garden.
I chose Geometric.
I pulled several pieces of fabric and cut squares, circles, hexagons, rectangles, and triangles. These I stitched to my background. Then I stitched shapes in between the appliqued pieces.
I did running stitching in the background.
Again, I got it backwards despite having it pinned and I had to turn it around before I stitched my G2 on it.
A bright and colorful piece. I had a restful day after hosting Easter lunch.
We are working through the alphabet A-Z. First is her choice and second is the community choice.
K3N chose Feather but I did not. I chose Fish, Five Fantastic/Fabulous ones.
I chose a bluish background cotton fabric and invisible stitched it to my thin white foundation layer.
I chose fabrics for my Fish from bright cotton scraps. I pinned them in place and used a running stitch to secure them to the background.
I then decorated them in bright colors and stitch patterns. French Knots and running stitch in a variety of patterns.
I then used green thread to create plants in the water from the bottom and water pattern along the top of the piece in blue embroidery thread. I left space on the left for the eventual binding the piece into a book.
I think I got carried away with the stitching. Decompressing from a very busy week.
I am following K3N Cloth Tales' slow stitching project for 2026.
The community choice E2 that K3N chose was envelope.
I chose an Easter Egg on an Ecru background. I nested it against the trunk of an Elm Tree. The Elm Tree is done in Espresso thread.
I chose Electric Blue fabric for the Egg applique. The stitching is done in Emerald, Ecru, Eggnog, and Eggplant thread. Electric blue thread selected for the blanket stitch Edging.
I added an Ermine Stitch star in the center with small star stitches in yellow.
The grass is done in Emerald green and other shades of green thread.
I loved the Earth and skipped the EPP.
I prepared a navy blue piece to fit my book (7"T x 8"W) and invisible basted to my foundation layer.
I did some research and decide to loosely represent the land mass of the continents. I then drew a circle with space to expand. I divided the circle based on land mass. Cut the paper apart and dug into my scrap bin to find colors that represented the continents.
The orange top left is Asia, top right is Africa, the next green is tropical South America, the purple is Australia, the blue is North America, the paisley is Europe and the blue ellipse at the bottom is Antarctica. I stitched my pieces down with running stitch in coordinated thread. I spread the piece apart because the continents are all surrounded by water. I liked the white stitched row around the earth for atmosphere that K3N used. I put my stars beyond the line in space using the Ermine Stitch.
I am following K3N Cloth Tales' slow stitching project for 2026.
This week's community prompt was Disappearing 9 Patch. I am not a fan of traditional quilting so I almost did something else but the options were few.
I persevered through the video and I liked one of the options K showed on how to reassemble the 9 patch once it is cut. I cut the 9 patch horizontally and vertically right through the center.
I re-appliqued the pieces to my piece of white linen. When I rewatched the video I realized it may have been more effective to have my patterned pieces as the whole squares but it would have had to be assembled differently from the start. I am not familiar with this technique at all.
I am happy with the final result.
I am following K3N Cloth Tales' slow stitch project for 2026. This week's prompt was Drawn Thread Work.
I did not have a piece of fabric loose enough to do this technique effectively. At least it was a woven piece of fabric. I could have chosen something else but I pushed through.
One of the challenges is that the thread in one direction is quite heavy but the other way it is so fine that it was impossible to isolate them.
I pulled threads horizontally in three places. I used some of the pulled threads to tie the thin threads on the light blue near the center of the piece.
I did some stitching with the pulled threads but this piece was not a great experience but it is what it is. I understand I was not alone struggling with the technique.
I am following K3N Cloth Tales challenge for 2026.
My fabric is white linen backed with white cotton invisible basted together. Measures 7"T x 8"W.
This week the prompt was Community. I created Circles to represent Cobalt blue for family, Crimson red for neighbours, yellow for On-Line Community and the small Cobalt blue Circle because I forgot them the first time around.
I added a large Circle done in Chain stitch to represent my world which included flowers.
I added 3 borders with Cross stitch.
I placed a running stitch along the binding edge in white thread. I am caught up before K3N publishes on Monday.
I have been working on a big project so I am behind in my stitch book.
I am following K3N Cloth Tales Slow Stitch Project 2026.
She chose Couching for her C1. I agreed and Couched a Coil of CottonTwine with Chartreuse thread on my page. Then I added a Circle of Corduroy in the middle. I chose scraps of Cotton in Colors that start with C. Cerise, Chocolate, Coral, Citron, Crimson and Cobalt.
I added a frame in left hand corner with Chain Stitch in Crimson and Cobalt thread.
Another page in my 2026 Stitch Book. I am following K3N Cloth Tales slow stitch project for 2026.
I wanted to do a Japanese Boro Stitching inspired piece. My stitching is quite a bit all over the place. I just had to add bit of red in the piece and a white circle for a focal element. Not traditional at all.
I did use my long Sashiko needle and some heavy cotton embroidery thread on the navy back layer which worked really well.
I added patches as I went along. I used some lighter weight white cotton embroidery thread for the red pieces with the Sashiko needle.
Some red embroidery floss at 3 strands for the light blue piece in the top right hand corner.
Some light blue embroidery floss at 3 strands on the white circle with seed stitch in the middle and white floss 2 strands and the Blanket stitch all the way around. It looks way more like visible mending rather Boro stitching. I enjoyed it.
I am tacking my pages together so I don't lose track of them which is the navy thread on the left hand side.
This is my second piece of K3N Cloth Tales Slow Stitch Project for 2026. I invisible basted my linen and cotton together that measure 7 in T x 8 in W.
I chose the Arrowhead Stitch for my second "A" page. The two A pages will be stitched together to make the first page in my stitch book. The pin on the right hand side indicates the binding edge.
The bottom line was my first line of Arrowhead Stitch done with aqua floss. Then going up I made them very close together which is the Stacked Arrowhead Stitch. It could be used as a fill in stitch. I love the pyramid of the stitch that migrates into the center of the square. The only example I found in my stitch book - Elegant Stitches by Judith Baker Montano pg 25. I mixed 2 shades of the blue green thread.
I moved onto the top line of the square with making arrowheads then just a small cross stitch coming down the left hand side.
I cut 4 diamond shaped pieces of fabric and placed them in an Argyll pattern and appliqued them with running stitch then added the thin diamond with aqua thread.
I chose a green thread for the Algerian Eye Stitch placed at the center bottom of the square. The bit above that is supposed to be a leaf done with Stacked Arrowhead Stitch but it did not worked out so well.
I am making a Stitch Book which will hold a sample of stitches as well as any techniques I would like to record as a reference. I chose a piece of white linen for my background and a piece of thin cotton for my foundation layer.
The pages are ripped 8 inches wide by 7 inches tall. The inch on the left is being left clean for the binding at the end to make it a book. I tack the pages together so that I will have 26 double sided pages at the end.
I don't know how that will mesh with the prompts that K3N provides but we will see how it goes.
K3N's plans is to provide prompts based from A to Z. One week she will provide the 1st letter prompt and the second week she will pick from the suggestions in the comments of the first video for that letter.
The first prompt which I am labeling A1 is applique. Not surprising at all. I have added it to my piece as well.
I invisible basted my linen and cotton together. Then I selected for small pieces of fabric from my stash to highlight the 4 stitches I had selected for applique.
Top Left - Couching Stitch Middle - Overcast Stitch
Bottom Left - Blanket Stitch Top Right - Fly Stitch
The butterfly is a more realistic expression of what applique would look like on a project. I had cut several extra butterflies for my cards last week so it was just sitting on my workspace so it was selected.
I chose the couching stitch to applique the butterfly.
There are some interesting suggestion for the second A prompt in the comments. Will be interesting to see which one is chosen.