The end of summer is fast approaching and I’m happy to report I did finish a couple of the projects I've been working on.
First up, I FINALLY finished my Mountmellick project:
Overall I’m happy with the way the purse came out and I think Mountmellick is one of my favorite embroidery techniques. I’ll definitely be doing another Mountmellick project soon. However, my finishing work leaves a little to be desired. I think juggling multiple WIPs can result in my just trying to finish one or two of the items I’m working on rather than focusing on just one item until it’s done. I would have a more refined result if I was willing to rip out bad stitching and start again when something goes wrong. In this instance, my attachment of the purse frame to the exterior and interior purse design is a bit sloppy since I was forcing it all to fit. You can see it in the photos of the interior:
Ultimately I do have to be honest about how I craft and the truth is I just get bored sometimes with one project and I need to pause and work on something else. After I've started and stopped a few projects there’s a point where my craft room gets messy and disorganized with various half done projects I'm working on and I realize I have to crack down and actually finish a few. My plan is to find a way to organize my disorganization so I'm less stressed about the various projects I'm juggling. Thankfully, a lot of crafters seem to have this same problem and I've found some suggestions to corral the chaos. I'll try out a few and share any that seem to work!
Next, I also finished weaving the pink scarf I was working on. This is the second project I started in the weaving class I took in January. I love weaving! The casting on process is still going to be a learning curve for me, but I’ve found some good resources on youtube and I've been checking out the blog Hello Hydrangea which has a lot of amazing tutorials so I’m hoping to slowly progress with this new technique. My goal is to make some gifts for the holidays – I’m thinking dish towels or something similar.
I also fit in a quick project for my friends. I’ve been trying my hand at macramé and had seen some cute car air fresheners I wanted to make. I have two friends with birthdays coming up and decided to make this cute craft for all my ladies.
I’m still learning the various macramé knots and the process of learning knots has taught me a bit about how I learn things in general. There are some GREAT youtube videos which helped me understand the whole process for making the air fresheners. However, I often need some kind of illustration when I’m learning a new knot. I need a real step by step this string goes over this string’ type of explanation to really understand what to do. Once it all makes sense to me thanks to the diagram, I can follow along with a video. And can I just say there is such an art to making a great video or written tutorial. I’m so appreciative of people who can take a detailed process and explain it so that others can follow along. The awesome video I used for this macramé car air freshener is from Macrame Princess here.
Lastly, I started a new project (of course) because I just can’t help myself.
I'm starting on a Sashiko Quilt. This is actually turning out to be a fun project and the process of using sashiko embroidery for each square is a pretty quick process. It’s also fairly portable as I can just stick one or two squares in my purse and stitch whenever I have a spare moment. It will take some time to finish all the squares I need for a complete quilt, but I’m off to a good start.
I still need to calculate exactly the number of squares to complete the quilt but I kind of changed my concept once I pulled everything out and put it together. My original plan was to do one side of the quilt in just Sashiko embroidered squares and then on the back use a couple Tenugui Towels I’ve bought at Japanese book stores in the past. However, once I pulled everything out, it really made more sense and creates a much cooler look to use the blue and white Tenugui Towel I have with the squares I’m embroidering in white and then on the flip side, go with the colorful Tenugui towel I have which I plan to partner with embroidered squares in bright pinks, blues and purples.
And that brings me to the end of summer and starting to inch toward fall. Soon I know I’m going to get the itch to start on some knitting or crochet projects so, once again I need to shake my tail feathers to get a couple more things done before diving into new projects. I hope everyone is enjoying the end of Summer, looking forward to Fall and progressing on all of the projects you might be juggling!