Slow Sunday Stitching

***  Looking for my Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol 6 Giveaway?  Go HERE! ***

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I want to thank you all SO MUCH for your sweet Birthday wishes!!!  You are all so good to me :*)  I had a smile plastered on my face all day long!!!  I did stop smiling long enough to devour my Chicken and Shrimp Carbonara, topped off with Pumpkin Cheesecake at Olive Garden - YUM!!!!!

But then I went right back to smiling again ... actually by then I was doing a pretty good impression of the Cheshire Cat! =^..^=

I've had very little opportunity to do much stitching at all this past week because of some guild commitments, but I posted HERE about a little prep work I managed to get done for a couple of applique projects.  Yesterday I finally got most of that other "stuff" done, so today I am taking a break and sharing an especially fun Slow Sunday Stitching with my oldest granddaughter, Emma, who is visiting with me for the next couple of weeks.

Emma is one month shy of 17 and a sophomore, and getting a picture of her is like pulling hen's teeth, so enjoy this one, there probably won't be another LOL!!!

None of my grandchildren have so far shown much interest in sewing, but Emma likes to do a little cross-stitching now and then when she gets bored.  So when she asked if we could look for a project for her while she is here (yes she got bored pretty quickly), I hustled her off to Joann's Fabrics to see what we could find.  We were really disappointed to find that the pickings were mighty slim!!!  There were quite a few large and complicated kits available, but only a few smaller ones appropriate for a beginner, and none of them appealed to her.

We decided to look at the cross-stitch books to see if we could find some small designs there.  But then her eye fell on this sweet little embroidery book....

Doodle Stitching - the Motif Collection by Aimee Ray

It is filled with wonderful little designs that especailly appeal to young girls.  I was delighted because of my own recent rediscovery of the joy of embroidery.  I can clearly remember my mother and grandmother teaching me how to embroider when I was a small girl.  If they hadn't spent that time and attention on me then, I would have had to learn this wonderful craft the hard way!  So I was delighted at the thought of passing that down to my own granddaughter!

We bought all the little tools she needed, and I set her up with some muslin for learning and practicing some simple stitches - backstitch, french knots and lazy daisies.

She did great!!!  She said it was "tedious" - isn't everything "tedious" for a teenager?  LOL!!!  But she said she liked it and was eager to start on a real design.

We started with the unicorn - do all teenage girls love unicorns???

She got carried away on a real project and I told her we needed to work on making smaller stitches!  But I think she did really well for her first embroidery project, don't you?  And then she was off and running, putting together several of the designs to make a picture for a friend back in North Carolina....

Look at that sweet mermaid!!!

We are stitching together today... her with her embroidery, and me with my Blue Collection applique.  I'm teaching myself how to do the starch method of applique today to see how I like it.

Several of my friends swear by it, so I thought I would try it.  I'll let you know how it goes :*)

Are you enjoying the pleasures of slowly stitching today?  Go over to Kathy's Quilts to share and see what others are enjoying on this gorgeous Sunday!

Hugs & Blessings,
Teresa
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