Stitch Me Up Embroidery Hop

I was so excited when I heard that this hop was going to be all about embroidery! Embroidery is probably my favorite crafty thing to do. I love it.
I had a dozen ideas for all of the lovely patterns we were given, but sadly I was only able to get one project done in time for this hop. 
Before I share my project, I want to say a big THANKYOU to Madamme Sam at SEW WE QUILT and our cheerleader for this hop, Jane from JANES FABRICS. This was so much fun!

And here is the list of the others sharing my day!

Isabel @That Other Blog

Jeanette @That Other Blog

Just Let Me Quilt

MacDonald’s Patch 

Pots Pans Pins and Prayers

GrandMama's Stories

Stitch, Stitch, Stitch

Needled d

Tomorrow's Treasures Today 

Lemur on a Stick

 Life In Every Breath

Zellerwear 

 Bumbleberry Stitches

threads on my socks

Hanging On By A Thread

Fresh Cut Quilts

And, so now to my project! I have a coat I got last year that I really like, as far as style goes. Well, it needed some work because bits and pieces keep loosening and falling apart and also, it's plain old black. Or at least, it WAS. Take a look now:

Here's a close-up of the flower:

And, a little collage to finish up: 

To be honest, I had so much trouble getting this flower onto the hood (nothing that had to do with the pattern, most my own errors and not having a transfer pen that would work on the black fabric) but I persevered and thanks to my Mom for telling me I should finish this and not give up; I worked through my frustrations and LOVE IT! I even have other plans to continue embellishing the coat! 

Stitch Me Up

So, I had thought I would try to do ONE blog hop a month, no more. But, then I didn't do any of the February hops, and when I saw what the second March hop was going to be, I just HAD to jump on board! It's an EMBROIDERY hop!
So, I figure I am okay because I have all of February free.....right? And, really, I couldn't resist an embroidery hop, could I?
So, I am super excited. Nancy Drew and embroidery all in one month! March is gonna be fun!

In Your Words Blog Hop----My Day Has Come!

It's my day in our In Your Words blog hop and I am so incredibly excited! This is my first time participating with all you lovely people for a hop and I could not have chosen a better hop to be a part of! All the creativity and personal touches I've seen so far and anticipate seeing as the hop continues are so much fun!
A huge thank you to Madame Samm and Linda for putting this hop together!

Here's today's schedule:
Jane's Fabrics (Jane R.)
Jane's Quilting (Jane C.)
Nuts 4 Redwork (Heide W.)
Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio (Cherry G.)
Bits and Pieces (Martha R.) 
*ME*Life in Every Breath (Jennifer B.)
Quilting Lines (Patricia L.)
Travel Thru Greece (Mara)
Meadowbrook (Kristen K.)
Count It All Joy! (Denise P.)
Sophie Junction (Sophie W.)

Okay, so now on to my project. It took awhile for me to come up with just the right combination of words. I knew I wanted something that was an encouragement of things to strive for in life.....especially this next year. There have been some phrases said by my pastors at church that have stuck with me and I thought of using some of them.....or Bible verses......or a simple word by itself....but nothing really felt right. I pondered for quite awhile, lost some sleep over the decision and finally came up with the right set of words for myself: Faith, hope, joy, peace and love. Then I lost some more sleep over how to lay them out. Finally one night it was like a light bulb went off in my head and I knew what I wanted to do. I included the words "Fill today with" since all the words are things I want to fill my life and days with and then made them into a circle....added an embroidered middle, and worked my way out, adding some borders and fused applique.

At the end, I was going to make the piece into a wall hanging, but first I didn't like it in the frame I had, then the more I thought about it, the more it really didn't seem to work as a wall hanging at all.

Thankfully, a couple of hoppers made pillows on Wednesday and then I KNEW how I was going to finish my project! (thanks for the inspiration!)

Here's a close up of the circle of words:

And, lastly, a second view of the pillow:

I found a lovely Bible verse that goes so well with my project:
"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit!" Romans 15:13

Thank you so much for visiting and hopping along with us!

Finished Gratitude Embroidery

Do you remember the Gratitude Embroidery project I've been working on? Well, I FINALLY finished it! The embroidery part anyway, I still need to figure out getting it framed......

From top left:
Jesus is the Way, Truth, Life
Cross
My Boys
Wedding Rings (marriage)
Family
Phone
Birds
Music
Ice Cream
Lake Cavanaugh
Tea
Gardens
Friends
Sal (sniff, sniff)
Yarn
Glasses
Trust
Bicycle
Quilts
Rainbows
Chips and Salsa
Mail
Sewing/Embroidery
Lollypops
Our Wedding Day
Camera
Church
Love
Water/Streams
Mountains
Bugs (good bugs)
Heidi
Books
Sun, Moon & Stars
Mom & Dad
Candles
Clothes
Communion
Fruit
Pamela
House
Electricity
Trees
Sunset/Sunrise
Teddy
Flowers
Daniel
Bible
Car
My Birthday

That's a pretty good list and I had so much fun doing this project!

Embroidery!

I have new parts of my Gratitude Sampler to show you!!!! And a fun collage of a little helper too!

Books, Sun&Moon&Stars, Mom&Dad, Candles, Fruit

Pamela, Home, Trees, Bible, Birthday

Heidi climbed up in my lap while I was working on my embroidery the other day and wanted to do it herself. I will have to get her some fabric and let her have at her own piece, because she wasn't too happy with me when I wouldn't let her do every part of it, and only let her pull the needle up. She was totally into it and can you see how serious she was about it?!? Liam wants to try embroidery too.....so I think I need to buy a couple more little hoops and let them have their own little pieces to work on.

And here is a picture of the whole piece so you can see where each little block is and how it looks! Getting close to being done! As you can see, I got tired of going in order...so I've been going off my list of things I am grateful for, and putting each thing where I think it fits best. It's helping me stick with it when I am so close to the end and some of my ideas aren't translating to cloth/embroidery very well.