Fast, Slow, Slow - A tale of three projects

Some sewing projects are like fast food.  Fast and easy and...satisfying...but not necessary quality sewing.  

Some sewing projects are like a carefully crafted slow - cooked Sunday dinner.  It takes some time to come together and is made with the best ingredients and the results...so worth it!

I have been sampling a bit of both in my sewing lately.  After my amazing long weekend of hand embroidery stitching with Laura Jenkins Thompson and all my friends at Stitchin' Charleston Style, 

Laura Jenkins Thompson (top right) and my Charleston friends.
The bottom right is a sample of the ways that Laura spoils us for lunch each day!

I was ready for a quick and easy sewing project.  My fairy goddaughter's birthday was coming up.  With the recent addition of an American Girl doll to the family, it was an easy choice for some "fast food" sewing. 




I found these scraps in  my stash and had the pattern from when my girls were into American girl dolls and in a couple of hours,  I had the bathing ensemble for Kaya, the American Girl doll. 













I used Simplicity 7688.   The best thing about sewing doll clothes - no fancy finishes.  The bathing suit doesn't even have elastic!  It literally took less than 30 minutes from fabric to done.  The coverup took a bit longer due to all those rolled hem finishes, but still an easy sew.

My daughter's Addy Doll modeling. 

After my fast sewing binge, I was ready to settle down to some slow sewing.

First up:  A present for my beautiful red-headed Irish friend whose birthday is St. Patrick's Day week. A shamrock theme was the obvious choice.

Hand embroidered linen/cotton guest towel.

I found the basic monogram on Mary Corbet's Needle and Thread website.  The original monogram has a flower in the middle of the monogram.  I switched it up to a shamrock and really love the result!  I also added the two groups of raised dots on the side of the letter B - a technique that I just learned in Charleston.

Madiera Applique linen monogram pillow
Design by Laura Jenkins Thompson

The final slow project was started in Charleston and just finished today.

All of our recent snow days (11!) let me slow down and focus completely on this project for hours at a time. 

Oh the joy of completely immersing yourself in something you love! 















I took a cue from Laura and added an old monogram pin to close the back of the pillow.

I love how some of the stitches are flat and silky and others are
so dimensional.
See the pin stitch on the Madiera appliqué?
See my mistake with the grain that is all supposed to be going the same direction?
Oh well...we'll can it a design feature.  :-)

So I ended this tale of three projects with a slow one.  Just in time to return to the school year mania after our last (I hope!) snow day.  Back to the fast lane tomorrow!