TAST (Take a Stitch Tuesday)

 Cooking isn't my only interest, though this blog may make it seem as though it is. I am also an avid quilter, an interest I developed in the late 70's and that retirement has allowed me to pursue to my heart's content. Back then I was looking for something (non-cerebral) that I could do that would help alleviate stress, enable me to express my artistic side, and keep me occupied but not cut off from the company of others (an avid reader, I was accused on being anti-social when I would bury my nose in a book for hours). I began as a hand piecer and hand quilter, moved on to machine piecing and quilting about 10 years ago, and discovered crazy quilting last year. My enthusiasm for crazy quilting lead to a desire to pursue embroidery, something that I'd tried in the past without a lot of success.

Part of the reason for that lack of success is that I am left-handed, though somewhat ambidexterous, and live in a world of right-handers. I can't tell you how many times I've been told things like "sit across from me and just do what I do in reverse" or "sit in front of a mirror and reverse the instructions." Neither works. But thanks to people like Judith Montano and Yvette Stanton, there are now excellent resources for the left-handed stitcher.

That brings us to TAST 2012 (take a stitch Tuesday). Having taken 2 online classes with Sharon Boggons after finding her wonderful blog Pin Tangle, I was delighted when she decided to repeat this year-long challenge. Simply, each week Sharon posts a stitch, along with her wonderful tutorials and resources, and the challenge is to try to master the stitch and even use it in a creative way.

The first stitch was the FLY STITCH, one that I have used before. I am using a 25 count piece of linen as my "doodle cloth," and after practicing the stitch using several types of thread and attempting to work the stitch in a circle--more practice needed there--I used 2mm silk ribbon to add texture to one of the blocks that will be part of my latest crazy quilting project.

I'm looking forward to practicing the stitches that I know and learning many more that I have not used.