Join Me for A Year of Stitching
Make a nature textile book
Hejsa!
I like a deadline. If I have a deadline I have a goal, something to work towards. I don’t like missing deadlines, whether they are my own or those set by other people. I’ll really only accept missing a deadline if things happen that are beyond my control. I have actually missed a deadline for a project and I guess having a stoopid cold for two and a half weeks does count as things that are outside of my control?
In January I had planned to record and edit videos for the new Wheel of The Year project, so they could go live for Imbolc (Feb 1-2) but now it is a week later and those videos aren’t quite ready yet. And that is really frustrating. I don’t want to miss deadlines and I don’t want to let people down.
So I guess that it’s a good thing that I haven’t actually launched the new Wheel project yet. I really only launched it to those who took part in the project last year.
But I guess I’m launching it to you right now? I am very excited about this project. It is going to combine several things I love to make.
This picture is *not* of the new Wheel project. But imagine the Wheel project from 2022 combined with a lovely, squishy textile book and that is what I have in mind for the 2024 Wheel project. A textile book that celebrates the eight seasons of the Wheel.
If that is enough to get you intrigued, you can jump straight over to my shop to sign up for the Wheel 2024 and use this code: TEN2024 to save 10%. Valid until February 18th.
Here are some more details: the textile book will have 20 pages. Each season will have two pages and then there will be another four pages for various fun stuff.
The season pages will be full of flowers and other plants, and a bird or other animal may also sneak in occasionally. So even if you are not a modern witch who celebrates the Celtic Wheel, it would still be a lovely celebration of nature. A bit like a nature journal. I am also very much inspired by The Country Diary of An Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden. :-)
For each season there will be a full video class for each page. I will show you every step of putting the pages together. Even an adventurous beginner should be able to make this. In my version I will be doing a fair amount of free motion machine stitching (because dodgy thumb so I can’t hand stitch it all) combined with hand stitching. I’ll talk about options for how to hand stitch the various motifs as well.
The project also includes an introduction to free motion stitching with the sewing machine.
The project aims to inspire you to use your stash and your scraps. If you haven’t got the perfect red, improvise with what you have. That is what I will be doing and I am very excited about this. Carte blanche to be creative and not have to stick to realism. If I want to make a pink chested robin, why not?!
Speaking of robins…
…here is a little sneak peek at the first page for Imbolc. With a wee robin! Who doesn’t actually have a pink chest… :-)
Oh and I’ll write a tiny poem for each season. I dabble in writing poems…no idea if they are any good. But I enjoy it…and I thought it would be nice thing to do for my nature Wheel journal. :-)
Blimey, I was just doing the maths in my head and there will probably be around 20 hours of video for this project. So I have probably completely under priced the project/course at just £35 for the whole thing… On the other hand, I would also like it to be accessible to as many people as possible. Maybe we’ll say £35 is an introductory price and then I’ll change it later. Maybe.
I would love for you to join me in making a textile nature journal this year. It would be so lovely to see a whole bunch of pictures of finished books at the start of next year. Hopefully a bunch of people will join me because it would not be worth the time and effort if only two people joined… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Sign up for the 2024 Wheel here. And remember you can save 10% off the price until February 18th by using this code: TEN2024 . If this is not your cup of tea, maybe tell a friend who might like to make a project like this, that would be a big help! A great way to support my work. Thank you. ♥
Right, now that I have shared it with other people I guess I better get my skates on and finish the videos for Imbolc. It doesn’t help that Tony works from home most days so I have to make sure he isn’t making weird noises (like boiling water for tea in the kitchen which is right next to my studio) that will be picked up on video. Sometimes Blake comes and demands attention while I am recording videos. And the other day the Alexa device in my studio randomly started talking to me, during filming, when I hadn’t even spoken to it! There’s always something… :-D
Anyway, I think that is more than enough rambling from me!
Have a lovely weekend!
x Carina
P.S. If you are wondering how it’s going with my Denyse Schmidt hexagon quilt, I made a wee video about it! :-)
P.P.S. The 100 Day Project starts on February 18th and if that is something you are considering taking part in, I wrote an ebook that talks a lot about working on long projects like that and how to keep going with it. You can check it out here: Temperature Quilts, Embroideries and Other Slow Craft Projects Ebook.
Some Things I Am Enjoying
Book: Enchantment* by Katherine May. I just started reading this book. Wow, just wow. It seems like every sentence is a poem... Such beautiful writing, making pictures in my head. I got the book from the library and it needs to go back soon. I think I might have to buy my own copy, this feels like a book I want to come back to again and again to fully take in the language…
Watching: Groundhog Day. I have very specific memories of seeing this at the cinema with an old boyfriend back when it came out in the 90s. I prefer the memories of watching it with Tony every February. Or other times if it happens to be on. It's just an excellent movie. Amirite? :-)
Music: I don’t take much notice of the Grammys, or any other award show. But, someone shared the Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs duet of Chapman’s song Fast Car and HOLY BAT SIGNAL! The song was beautiful as it was but, wow, this is an excellent version of it too. Here’s a link to a video of the performance. It’s not a direct link, alas. Click the ‘read more’ button under the Dua Lipa video and then the Fast Car video is the next one. Why they haven’t got a direct link is beyond me…
A Silly Thing: On previous visits to Heathrow we have noticed funny little vehicles going on tracks over the roads and it turns out that those a self driving pods going to and from one of the car parks. The other day the YouTube algorithm thought I might like to see a video of such a pod going from the cark park to the terminal. The algorithm was right (I guess it knows that I’m a bit of a nerd..?) and now I’m sharing it with you. Behold: the Heathrow Pod. You’re welcome. :-D
*bookshop.org affiliate link.
A reminder that you can still get 10% off the pattern for the 2023 Wheel of The Year. Use the code 10WHEEL2023 and that is valid until this Sunday (Feb 11th).
Just beautiful Carina!