Day 13: Hand embroidery

I learned to embroider when I was a small child. My grandmother was Ukrainian and embroidered linens and my aunt taught me to cross stitch. It wasn't until I was a working adult that I discovered quilting and, like many obsessive-compulsive people, virtually gave up all other crafts in favor of quilting.

This summer the Western Washington Shop Hop was held in July and I was able to hop from store to store for three glorious days - 36 stores in total. There were quite a few blocks that included embroidery in the block. Once I got my hands back working on the hand stitching in the hoop, I was reminded of how peaceful the act of embroidery is. The block below is just one of the blocks I created. It was designed by Carriage Country Quilts in Des Moines, WA.



During shop hop I browsed many stores with extensive embroidery patterns and kits. One that immediately caught my eye was called "Zelda's Fancy Hat" by Crabapple Hill. The Halloween-themed hat was actually a pillow to be used as decoration, but I couldn't imagine putting the work into the hat and then NOT wearing it! I finished it in time for the beginning of October and to wear it to my quilt guild meeting. I bought a cheap $1.99 witch hat at my local Target store and cannabalized the wire in the rim for my hat.

When I decided to work on the hat, I realized I wanted to use the very cool (but expensive) hand-dyed floss the kit recommended. I ordered the floss, handily packaged together, from the Crabapple Hill website and, as happens to me alot, I found other items that I just couldn't live without. Since I was already getting excited about Halloween, and since the pattern I saw had elements from the Wizard of Oz (the greatest movie ever!), I had to buy the Hocuspocusville pattern which combined embroidery, the Wizard of Oz and quilting in one gorgeous quilt. Below is one of the 12 (count 'em twelve) large embroidery blocks in the quilt that I just began work on. I like to keep hand work handy (no pun intended) for when I am sitting in front of the television in the evening - it keeps my hands away from the chips.