color wheel sampler | Night Quilter

With an infant sleeping and nursing much of the day, and still the help of my husband around the house, I’ve been making good progress on my Dropcloth Color Wheel embroidery sampler. Over the weekend, I received some new colors of 12wt Aurifil (thank you, Alex!) so I now have all of the necessary colors to complete this sampler. I’m already thinking about what I’m going to embroider next, and can’t wait to use the thread for hand–or even machine–quilting, too!

This is my first time trying embroidery, so I’m learning the stitches as I go. YouTube is an amazing resource, isn’t it!? So far, blanket stitch is still the trickiest for me. My favorites are Algerian Eyes, Coral Knots, and Backstitch. In browsing other embroidery samplers, I’m noticing that there seems to be an endless list of stitches to try, but I want to try them all! Admittedly, I’m a bit frightened by French Knots, but will tackle them next. I chuckled at the fact that I was sewing the couched stitch while sitting on the couch (is there a couch-related reason for the name?).

The more I use the 12wt Aurifil, the more impressed I am. I’m a complete beginner at embroidery, so there may be benefits of using a floss or perle cotton thread that are unknown to me, but the smoothness of the Aurifil makes it a dream to stitch with. There’s no unraveling or splitting, and the thread is thick enough to make an impact with only one strand. The colors, of course, speak for themselves: vibrant, bold, and shiny.

I have only a few sections remaining, and then comes the fun of deciding what to do with this once it’s finished. My initial instinct is to finish it in the hoop, but I’m tempted to stitch it into a larger mini quilt for a more finished display.

If you stitch embroidery samplers, how do you finish them?

I’m linking up with Freshly Pieced’s Work in Progress Wednesday and Molli Sparkles Sunday Stash (hello, shiny new Aurifil!).

Some people experience nesting before a baby by feeling the urge to clean and reorganize everything. I wish I felt that way, honestly. It would be wonderful to have that “nesting” drive all the time and to effortlessly have a pristine and organized home. Not being the most enthusiastic cleaner, though, I have been nesting by thinking about small stitching projects I can do a tiny bit at a time for once our little bundle of joy makes his appearance.

I’ve been wanting to try embroidery and figure this may be the perfect time! I am hoping that by having some embroidery floss or thread and a ready-to-go hoop sitting on the table next to the glider, I will have a little creative outlet while nursing and rocking and nursing and rocking (with plenty of breaks to gaze in wonderment at my little boy).

Yes, I’ve been nesting. I bought the Color Wheel Sampler by Rebecca Ringquist of Dropcloth, and a couple of adorable needle minders made by Amanda from What the Bobbin (the little house is one of them!). Alex from Aurifil was kind enough to send me a collection of 12wt embroidery thread–the Splendor 1920 collection by Bari J–to get me started in my embroidery adventures. I’m already in love with the smooth, gorgeous thread and am looking forward to expanding my collection (and it just may encourage me to do some more hand quilting, or even try using 12wt thread with 50wt in the bobbin for machine quilting!).

I’ve been slowly learning the stitches and so far I’ve completed the herringbone stitch section on the color wheel. Embroidery is awfully fun, and quite relaxing.

The Bari J Splendor 1920 collection of 12wt Aurifil thread is such a gorgeous rainbow of silky thread. After using embroidery thread and perle cotton for my initial embroidery attempts, using this 12wt thread is a dream. I love that it doesn’t separate into strands, and it is silky smooth without being twisty like perle cotton. At first, I thought I might need to use two strands, but one strand ended up being ample to cover the guiding lines. I’m definitely looking forward to working 12wt thread into my quilting projects, too.

For those of you who are seasoned embroiderers, do you have any tips to share with a newbie?

I’m linking up with Monday Makers, Design Wall, and Molli Sparkles’ Sunday Stash, since these are all gorgeous additions to my stash that have not yet been shared, and it seems like this week’s stash theme is thread! As an added fun little tidbit, my baby boy has a good chance of sharing a birthday with Mr. Molli!!