Handy Handwork

I've never been much of a fan of handwork. The guru does most of my hand binding and I avoid embroidery like the plague...until now!! I stopped by Knit One Smock Too a few weeks ago and saw this adorableness made by Martha. It's from Aneela Hoey's Little Stitches book.

So I signed up for her class. She's a FABULOUS teacher. She's very clear and knows her stuff! She explains things really well and simplifies the steps. Previously, all my embroidery "skills" were "self-taught" so she was a welcome addition to my skill set. If you're local, you need to take a class from her:) This is my practice cloth from class.

After class, I finished my little snow globe. Is it a little more wobbly than Martha's? Yes, yes it is. Am I cool with that? Yes, yes I am. As Martha would say...it's a towel!

Then I decided to use my new (mad) skills for my pincushion swap. My partner loves the beach:) So I did a little starfish.

It went well. One of the things that Martha taught us were granitos. They're awesome and I was able to do graduated dots on the starfish legs.

I finished it off with ric-rac. I've loved this look since I saw it in the Liberty Love book.

I also sent her a one of my Christmas Tree pinnies from my Twelve More Weeks of Christmas series. She seemed pretty happy:) Perfection.

I got this adorable pinnie from my friend Leona. She always makes the cutest things!!

I also decided to use my newfound skills for the hoop art swap for my Usual Suspects bee. My partner has not received it yet, so it's still a surprise!! Sewing is Amazeballs!

I've now organized my floss and bought all new needles under Martha's direction. I'm very excited about my new car ride activity!

I'm finding embroidery to be really relaxing. Are you an embroidery fan?xo LC