Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Vintage Slow Stitching



The Luxury of a Slow Stitching Project


An upcoming long weekend away had me nervous for lack of a project to take along. I improvisationally pieced some simple log cabin blocks the night before. Though the project was started at the 11th hour, the idea had been brewing the whole week long. Something simple. Something graphic. Something old.


It feels like autumn here, and the morning light has changed, too. It's a cool light already, and hard to photograph white in. 


I spent the weekend at the beach while a tropical storm passed by us. We had winds and rain, but the electrical stayed on, and I stitched away in the midst of it all. 


No. 8 Perle cotton was an easy choice for over dyed vintage tea towels and feed sack. I used several shades of off white, grey, and as a request from my husband, some rusty orange.

There was only one rule: Make no plan. I stitched one section then the next randomly. Sometimes they matched up, and other times they echoed another part, but I made my decisions when I ran out of thread. I'd throw it on the floor, stand back a few feet, and pick a new spot. Instead of trying to stitch over the torn spots, I tried to emphasize the fact that this fabric had served someone well before it came to me.


If you're wondering whether there will be more slow stitching projects to come, "Oh, yes!" I loved this! I loved the tactile sensation of the coarse fabric, and ability to really feel what the piece was asking for. I would venture to say it was almost meditative. If you're looking for something out of the box to try this month for #BraveQuilter, you'll have company with me! You have until September 10th to link up, and there's a bundle of fabric waiting for the winner at the end. Be Brave!

Come on, Doxie girls.
Let's go sew!

5 comments:

helenjean@midgetgemquilts said...

love how this is coming together, but then I love those linen tea clothes. Here they tend to have a broad blue or read stripe up the centre

Angie in SoCal said...

Will this be a wall hanging, a table runner? I like how you re-purposed the blue even with the wear blemishes.

Lena Pugacheva said...

That must be an interesting sensation to hold those fabrics in your hands and do improvisational hand stitching, that's exactly where all the modern hand crafts stem from, patch-work in its original meaning.

Kate said...

I like the bits of orange thrown in here and there. It looks like a great meditative project for a rainy weekend.

Nancy said...

Wonderful! I love the red/coral stitches along the left side. And of course the white on blue, too. I have some old cloths with a few odd holes....
--Nancy. (ndmessier @ aol.com, joyforgrace.blogspot.com)