Update on the iHanna Journal of Stitchery that I started in January. Each month we’ve been given two themes to play with, one for the background and one for the actual image of the page.

In today’s blog post I will share video footage of me thinking about and creating the first 4 + 1 pages! Yes, why not include it all here?

I was a little “behind”… But now I am not behind any more, and I am really happy I waited so I could make two more videos about the process. I think you’ll enjoy them.

Video: textile book pages

So let’s start with this video. Watch it first before looking at the images below so that you can follow along with the process without too much pre-information…

If you can’t see the video visit this blog post. And if you don’t have time right now please consider bookmarking the post or adding the video to your watch later list over on YT.

And while on an embroidery roll, I continued with the May page as well. That became a second video, because I talk too much…

Video 2: Bird applique page

My second video in this blog post is about the May page, where the theme will soon become clear:

Videos are not embedded if you are reading this video in your mail, but you can always watch the video on the blog or directly on YouTube: slow stitch applique bird.

I have now finished six pages for my Journal of Stitchery (if you include the intro-page) and I am really enjoying the process – and the prompt ideas! I usually don’t like prompts that  much, I tend to create more intuitively than prompts invite you to do, but this time they’ve helped me look beyond my own style. I’ve explored by box of lace, two new styles of stitching, and even done some textile collage finally!

I am very happy about all this.

Even if you haven’t started yet, you could try this project yourself and do some slow stitching this summer. Here are all the current themes in a handy list to save for later:

Journal of Stitchery themes

• January : vintage lace & bouncing bunnies
• February : neutral background & fancy flowers
• March : antique textiles & bright butterflies
• April : old quilt & country cottage
• May : your favorite color & beautiful bird
• June : hand-dyed or painted background & heart

After finishing my May page I discovered that the last prompt for this book came out in June, and after that these ladies will be doing something else entirely! I think they call it a Christmas Journal of Stitchery… I have had to search for information since there are so many videos that I haven’t had time to watch it all. But those are the themes, and I am looking forward to creating my heart page later on.

I might jump on the new idea later this year, or continue with a few more pages for my book when I find the time. Six pages hardly feels enough to me.

Looking through my box of lace and ribbons I got a few ideas, and I know I will want to use a bit more of that later this year! It is always good to look through boxes that you don’t rummage through very often – ideas will find you if you’re working.

I also discovered how fun it is to work on a textile book, so I think I might continue to explore this idea more in the future. I see my pages becoming a little bit more mixed media and colorful, a little bit more me. Not that I don’t like these pages, but they’re very much a first try, an experiment of the themes given.

Inspirations

In the video I mention the book Textile Collage by Many Pattullo, a book that I truly love and think you need if you’re at all into her style of patchwork and embroidery. I can’t believe I never wrote a blog post book review of that book, but it doesn’t seam like I did. Take my word for it here, it’s worth buying, that and her second book as well; Textile transformed. So good.

I also show my embroidery thread collection, and the more organized part of that is on these Plastic Floss Bobbins that you can find on Amazon, if you’re interested. Those links are affiliate ones.

My textile inspiration since many years is definitely Jude Hill of Cloth Whispering – she has a very distinct style of patchwork and stitching and a generous heart sharing videos on her technique and free offerings on her blog. For the spiderweb / tambourine stitch I reference Heidi Iverson of Honey Folk Clothing who has a video on YouTube where she demonstrates this stitch in the round, it looks so yummy!

Thanks to all these ladies for sharing your work freely and inspiring me and many others.

If you feel like watching more of my videos I’d recommend my Textile playlist or the short but sweet Vlog playlist, where there’s a few videos of when I visited Birmingham’s Festival of Quilts for example. And of course, my blog post and video on How to Start a Journal of Stitchery – I’d love to know if you feel inspired to do this project or something similar?

Happy stitching!

PS: Inspired by me, these video or my blog posts? Please consider sharing them on, leaving a comment and/or buying me a a coffee on Ko-Fi, that is very much appreciated.