Maine-ly Stitching

Earlier in the month--oops, I guess that was last month--we spent a week in Maine, where the wet, cold, windy weather meant we did not do all the hikes I had dreamed of and the long walks exploring the rocky beaches did not happen, but I did spend time exploring the art galleries in Rockland, just 10 minutes from the house we were renting, had great visits with all three of our kids and their families, had some memorable meals, including fresh caught Maine lobsters we cooked ourselves, and saw a lot of ocean that was just a few yards from the back of the house.

Before we left I had finished my 65 project of stitching every day and just at the end of that project had stumbled upon (almost literally--it was on the floor of my studio under a couple of other books) Drawn to Stitch by Gwen Hedley, a book I had bought a while ago and had never gotten around to looking at.

It was a real serendipity moment since its emphasis on creating and recreating texture with thread was just what I needed to take my stitching a step further. So as I packed up for Maine I included another book I had bought years ago and never used--

along with a couple of pieces of fabric and lots of pearl cotton of varying thicknesses and colors and some other heavy threads. 

And during some of those long, rainy, windy evenings I sat and stitched. In the spirit of Drawn to Stitch, I let the land/seascape in front of me be my inspiration,

although I was also just trying out some different stitches and seeing where each kind of stitch would take me so this was never meant to be an accurate facsimile of that ever changing scene.

This is very small, but, of course, I was doing many other things that week besides stitching.

And, if you are still with me, thanks for the company!