I’ve been wrestling with myself on where to start anew these past few weeks. I’ve recently picked up some junk journal creating, but the lead time to create ephemera is real. While making tucks, tags, and envelopes is good fun, I needed more than that to weave into it. Plus, I missed fabric and a lot of it is surrounding me in my newly cleaned out room/studio (more pictures and story on that later).

Slow stitching fits into my mentality of creating. It is decide-as-I-go way of building a piece. At a high level, it is starting with a base, decisions are made on subject, type of collage materials, shapes, stitching, and embellishment.

I put together 6 ‘kits’ of items which can start the slow stitch journey, selecting one for today. This was created in about 6 hours from selecting colors to finishing it. Below are some combinations of color.

One nice thing about slow stitching is that it often encourages use of scraps. Not much is needed to get started with a project. I started with the color combination which would challenge me the most. I don’t usually do a lot of black/red/gray stuff, but it seemed what I needed today. Most of my colorways, as you can see above, are very saturated and bright, so this was a leap of faith. The subject matter of this piece is in homage to a friend who loves Halloween. 

You will notice that the color ways change as I go along. I wasn’t feeling the circular piece and found something I liked a bit better. This is the beauty of the flexibility of slow stitching. Not liking it, swap it. Trust your gut.

I am trying to become friends with the fraying edges. :) I imagine I will wrestle with it for awhile. The piece I worked on today was laid down on felt as a backing, but batting would suffice. Unfortunately the red wasn’t wide enough for me to use in the finishing process, so you will see additional borders to get it to what I considered completed. I chose threads from my stash. I utilized running stitch, a sort of medical / Halloween looking stitch for the skin (Think Frankenstein). All threads were hand dyed, except one black embroidery one. Beads were selected based on colorway. They were various shades of red and black.

For a welcome back piece, it was great fun and I can’t wait to start the next one. Perhaps some of these will become part of a journal or notepad. Maybe a part of a junk journal. Time will tell. All I know is that the ride is pretty fun today, with all the windows down and the wind blowing through my hair. Free to do has been a refreshing change. 

Talking to you soon….cheers!

Deana