Chain stitching in embroidery and crochet - My block for the Splendid Sampler #thesplendidsampler

There’s a reason that the chain stitch is one of my favorite embroidery stitches.

It reminds me of my grandma.

My grandma and the hundreds of doilies she crocheted out of an endless number of tiny chain stitches. Her crocheted chain stitches look almost identical to the embroidery chain stitch.

I absolutely loved visiting my grandma’s house. When you walked in the door you could see her doilies right away. There’d be one under every plant and lamp. Doily table runners on the side tables. And at Easter there would be pretty yellow and pink and purple ones out. She had a little “stitching station” beside her chair in the living room, so when she was relaxing and watching tv, she would be crocheting. No idle hands for Grandma.

Grandma and Grandpa. Check out all those doilies in the background.

A little over a year ago, while organizing my craft supplies, I came across a bin full of grandma’s thread that she used to make her doilies. About 20 opened spools, some full and some with just a bit of thread left. I had stored them away because I wanted them to stay just as they were when my grandma passed away. But now, years later, I decided the best way for me to honor my grandma was to use her thread.

So I started making her doilies. Stitching the same pattern she used, with her thread, and her tiny crochet hook.

“DOILY: Starting at center, chain 16. Join with sl st to form ring.”

16 chain stitches made, thousands more to go.

My first doily using grandma's floss. The green is from a tiny ball of thread I found hiding in the center of a larger spool.

I was a couple rows into my 4th doily when I was asked by Pat and Jane to design a quilt block for The Splendid Sampler. I knew immediately that I wanted to continue to honor my grandma and her doilies by combining her main craft of crochet with my main craft of embroidery, and my mom’s main craft of quilting. I wanted my block to represent our 3 generations of crafting.

My quilt block is of a “crocheted” doily being stitched with a tiny metal hook.

I love that I finally got to design an embroidery using the chain stitch with what the chain stitch always reminded me of. Grandma’s doilies.

"Crocheted Thoughts" My Splendid Sampler quilt block.

You can get the free pattern for the embroidered quilt block on the Splendid Sampler homepage by clicking the link below.

Get the free pattern here: thesplendidsampler.com

Let’s make the quilt block together! 

Over the next couple of days, I’ll be sewing and embroidering my Splendid Sampler block LIVE on Periscope.

You’ll be able to sew and stitch the block right along with me, and ask any questions you have along the way LIVE and I’ll answer them during the Periscope. We’ll hang out and craft together!

So first, go download the pattern at the Splendid Sampler by clicking here.

Then download the free Periscope app to your device from the App Store for Apple products or Play store for Android (if you're using an iPad, look in the iPhone only apps).

In the app, click the person icon and then the magnifying glass icon, and search for my user name, penguinandfish. Click follow. I will Periscope LIVE at 9:30pm central time, starting tonight, March 20, 2016, so tune in (Periscope should notify you when I’m live). Then grab your crafting supplies and we’ll make the block together.

Note: You do need a Twitter account to use Periscope. If you don't have or want an account, you can still view my Periscopes live (but not participate in comments) at periscope.tv/penguinandfish.

Can't watch LIVE?

If you missed any of the Periscopes live, you can watch all of the replays at:

katch.me/penguinandfish

I'm making EVERY SINGLE BLOCK of The Splendid Sampler LIVE on Periscope and you can watch them all by clicking the Katch link above.

You can also check out my blocks so far on my Instagram at:

instagram.com/penguinandfish (I'd love if you followed me there)

Need some help with embroidery?

I did a few embroidery lessons leading up to the release of my block for The Splendid Sampler. If you're new to embroidery, need some help transferring your design, want a stitch refresher, or want some fun tips and tricks, then check out the replay videos.

To watch, click the katch.me/penguinandfish link then click the "collections" tab on the website. Click "Embroidery Lessons" to watch.

I’m excited to work on the block together with you.

Happy stitching! And good luck with all the rest of The Splendid Sampler blocks.


best
-Alyssa


Comment below, or feel free to contact me (Alyssa) at emails [at] penguinandfish [dot] com (type out using the “@” and “.” symbols with no spaces).

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Click here to join (it's FREE too!)

My number 1 organization tip - Don't clean your craft space. Do this instead.

I have “drifts” in my craft room

Like snowdrifts that get bigger and bigger during a snowstorm. Except my drifts are accumulated piles of fabric, embroidery hoops, magazines, books, sewing thread, loose papers and all sorts things that build up around the edges of the room.

Not pretty.

One of many "drifts" in my craft room.

What about you? Any drifts in your craft space? Those drifts can really mess up your craft time. If you’re anything like me, it might go something like this:

You get super motivated to craft and, amazingly, have time right this moment to dedicate to crafting.

The stars have aligned!

You go into your craft space. You see the “drifts” and get a little stressed. But you’re not discouraged. You have just enough willpower to get past the “drifts” and get working on your craft project. But where is your scissors? Where did you leave the floss you needed? Where’s the pattern?

Then Bam! Motivation is gone.

It’s too stressful to find everything you need, you’ve wasted your time looking through the drifts, and you don’t even feel like crafting anymore. You could clean up your craft space. But that would take forever and sounds like the least fun thing to do right now.

You give up and check your Instagram feed instead.

Any of this sound familiar?

Our crafting time and motivation are precious. 

And our lack of organization is getting in the way.

So how can we be organized enough to capitalize on our time and motivation, but not have to clean our entire craft space to get started? Here’s a solution that might work for you:


My number 1 organization tip:

Don’t organize your craft space, instead organize your projects.


So what does that mean?

It could mean the difference between crafting or giving up. Seriously.

Ideally an organized project consists of a container that holds everything you need to work on a single project. This includes all materials, supplies, tools, patterns, inspiration, notes and other reference materials.

Everything is right at your fingertips while your motivation is still at it’s peak. And you can ignore your unorganized craft space all together.

Your project container doesn’t need to be anything fancy, however it should have a lid or the ability to close. I use everything from small plastic sandwich containers, to spare handbags, to large plastic storage bins depending on the size of the project.

Here’s an example of what an embroidery project container might look like.

    •    A gallon sized Ziploc bag to use as your project container
    •    embroidery hoop
    •    fabric
    •    pattern
    •    needle (slid in the corner of the fabric so it’s easy to find)
    •    embroidery floss (in a small sandwich bag to protect it from getting caught on things)
    •    small scissors with cover
    •    additional small sandwich bag to use for trash like embroidery floss discards
    •    piece of paper to jot down notes (notes could include a list of supplies to still purchase, a link to a good youtube video on a new technique to try, where you left off last time and what you want to do next, tricks learned along the way that you don’t want to forget, etc.)
    •    pen or pencil to jot down notes

It’s everything you need to work on the embroidery project. You only need to grab the project container and you’re ready to craft.

Project container with all the needed supplies, materials and tools.

Do this for all of your projects, or at least the most current ones you’re working on, and you’ll be surprised at how easy it will be to start crafting, no matter how messy your craft room is.

:-)

However, you may be thinking: I don’t have tons of scissors to put one in every project container.

Here’s a solution if you don’t have tools to spare for each project. This also applies if you’re working on a project that needs large rulers, liquids like paint, cutting boards or common specialty tools like a rotary cutter or fabric scissors.

Gather like items and give them a highly visible place of honor in your craft space.

For example. Find all of your scissors (whether they’re large, small, for fabric, or paper) and place them in a jar with a pretty ribbon. Put the jar in a place of prominence in your craft space. It could be the centerpiece to your cutting table, or it could sit right next to your sewing machine. Make sure the jar is in a place where it doesn’t have to move often and is highly visible at all times.

Then when it’s craft time, just grab your project container and a scissors from the jar.

another idea…

make a grab-and-go tool kit.

A grab-and-go tool kit is a small container that has all the general supplies you might need for any project that comes up.

My grab-and-go tool kit is simply a plastic sandwich container with a lid and contains:

    •    small embroidery scissors
    •    piece of felt holding a variety of needles
    •    neutral colored sewing thread
    •    measuring tape
    •    pen
    •    pencil
    •    water soluble pen
    •    a couple of crochet hooks
    •    thimble
    •    a few random buttons
    •    piece of paper for notes
    •    small crocheted chain stitch piece of yarn that my husband stitched that makes me smile when I see it

With my project container supplemented by my grab-and-go tool kit, I know I’ll have everything I need to craft.

Nothing, not even a craft room full of “drifts” can get in my way.


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What about you?

Do you have a special container for your projects or tools? How clean is your craft space? Does an unorganized space keep you from crafting?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Comment below, or feel free to contact me (Alyssa) at emails [at] penguinandfish [dot] com (type out using the “@” and “.” symbols with no spaces).

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Click here to join (it's FREE too!)