Stitching has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. This skill is something that has been passed down through generations in my family, and I am so thankful that my mother loved to sew. She happily included me in everything from embroidery to quilting, to mending and making clothing from patterns. Yes, I have been stitching my entire life, but I have to confess, I still feel the need to spend hours practicing.🕰️🤭🧵

A recent sewing project I've been working on is a wonderful example of this. Sashiko embroidery is a traditional Japanese stitching style that I have enjoyed for many years. I not only use it in visible mending, but also to add beautiful decorative patterns to clothing and items in my home. I am self-taught through reading books and watching many videos on how to transfer and stitch the unique patterns. This style of embroidery takes thoughtful precision in the pattern transfer and countless hours of stitching to master (I am still working on it😆).

I had a beautiful piece of patchwork fabric that I'd been saving for the right project...it's a cotton twill with a heavy weight that was a sample from an upholstery fabric collection. Each patchwork block is 3"X8", the perfect size for a small sashiko embroidery pattern!

    Block by block, I have been filling the fabric with different sashiko patterns. No two blocks are the same and I have used a combination of moyozashi and hitomezashi patterns. It has been the perfect evening project for me, as there are no thread colour choices required (there is only one thread) or difficult embroidery stitches (running stitch throughout). The only tricky part is transferring the pattern, so I make sure I am wide awake and focused to mark out the stitch lines. 🖊️☕. This was especially the case for the pattern shown here, known as Asanoha, or Hemp Leaf. So many lines!🤦‍♀️

The progress I have made on this piece so far has been enjoyable and rewarding. Working on a project like this has reminded me how important it is to continue to practice stitching in order to improve my technique. The more I stitch, the more controlled I am, creating cleaner, neater stitches. With each new pattern, I am challenged to problem solve the most efficient stitching path, as the blocks are not very big,  requiring some adaptations to the way they are stitched. This was certainly the case for the pattern below, Shippo Tsunagi or Linked Seven Treasures. It is meant to be stitched in continuous curves, but I had to improvise! 

  Eventually the entire block was filled.😅 I'm not sure if it's the geometrical puzzles (which I love) or the challenge of creating evenness in my stitches, but I don't ever tire of this style of stitching.

I continue to work away at the blocks... practicing and making progress. I have decided to make a bag for myself out of this sampler when it is complete. It has truly become something I look forward to doing every evening. Relaxed slow stitching, honing my skills and creating something beautiful all at the same time.🥰