Stitching

I am showing up. While I am finishing up two other projects, I have begun something I have no idea what it will look like when it is finished but I smile whenever I go to pick it up so that is enough for right now. My muse or resident spirit may have a lot of work to do on this project. Last summer I began experimenting with a variety of hand stitches and this is a continuation of that experiment, although I have focused on the running stitch this time a la Julia Caprera, although it will be years before this piece has the  kind of visual impact that any of hers does, if it ever does.

I decided I wanted to use these stitches like quilting stitches, which meant I had to prepare a quilt sandwich.  I pulled a hand-dye from my stash with a funky crackle that I had not been sure would ever be useful for anything.  In other words, if this experiment flopped, I would not be overly distraught about having wasted the fabric.  In order to stabilize the sandwich I did a bit of machine quilting that emphasized some of the color texture of the piece.

And here is a close-up of my first hand stitches that are just following the verticals:

The beginning. . .

And thanks for the company as I make these first steps.