Catching Up...

I've been busy... working on my CQ, establishing a sewing and stitching area within our home so computer time has been a bit limited. This photo is an update showing the recently added stitches to my CQ journal cover. I experimented with the buttonhole and blanket stitches and even learned how to do a blanket stitched fan! I'm still learning, getting a little braver about learning directly upon my quilt
block, and loving the process. I figured if I didn't like the way a stitch was turning out, I should also learn how to undo whatever it is I've done and this is the result. I decided that I love it with all its little imperfections and like my paper arts it will be exciting one day to look back and see how I've grown and how far I've came during the process.

This is the buttonole stitched using an off-white perle cotton size 5. As this block is a small block and also forms the border of the block it was a little difficult to sew through all the layers and to keep the spacing even, although I felt that I was improving as I worked.

I like how the off-white provides a unifying look to this piece of the block. It balances with the lace heart applique in the lower corner and pulls the white background out a bit more in the siggie. Deciding I like it, I next stitched a herringbone stitch using it on another block directly over a pink herringbone stitch I'd previously added.