I have also decided that my end goal for this project is to create a birthday/new home present for my Aunt Dawn. She was the one who originally got me into sewing and showed me how to sew and stitch my first mini pillow when I was young. Her birthday is around the end of this semester, so the timing works out well. She is also moving into a new home to celebrate her retirement, so there are lots of opportunities for good gifts! I want to give her something that means a lot to me and to her. My main two end goals will be an embroidered kitchen towel with her new zip code or town of where she will be living, and an embroidered card similar to a few of the ones I found in one of the booklets.

Overall, I am very excited to get started!

To start documenting my journey, here is an overview of my first "chapter". I discuss how I started with basic stitches, some of the supplies I have, what I plan on doing next, and how I found what I originally viewed as a mistake to be quite helpful. I also will post some additional videos of my stitches in another post!

So far, I have really enjoyed teaching myself a new skill and am excited to really see it come to life!

I first drew the curved shape, then began making my guiding lines by coming up through point A, laying the thread flat and going down at point B (the point in which the thread on the opposite ends is in line with the shape outline). This is in Satin Stitch Post 2.1. I then created four parallel lines to help guide me for the remainder of the shape (Satin Stitch Post 2.2). I filled in the first space, carefully keeping each line straight by keeping in stitch in line (SS Post 2.3.). I found that the fabric I was using was also really helpful in this because it has a certain pattern with holes in it that are also parallel. I was able to use these lines to help guide me, too.

I ended up running out of my original thread, so I anchored it off in the back and started using a different blue (SS Post 2.4). I realized that while creating this, I got into the "state of flow" that we have recently learned about. It was challenging yet enjoyable and doable, and time seemed to fly by. I got into a really good groove.

I also really liked the shape that I ended up making and saw that it mimicked a whale, which started turning some wheels in my mind for future ideas!

Overall, this stitch has been my favorite because 1) I love the way it looks, 2) I feel like I really got into a state of flow, and 3) it is making me feel a lot more confident in my skills!

I am really enjoying how it is turning out so far, however I had some difficulty with the sections where I had to work in smaller areas (i.e. where the aqua green leaves are "behind" the blue ones). I was getting a little too lax when working on those parts, so I went back to using the parallel lines method I learned when doing the satin stitch - and it is helping a lot.

I also noticed I am continuing to get into a state of flow whenever I am working. I go into the design thinking I will only work for no more than an hour, and look up and realize a lot more time has passed. I am starting to find a lot of joy whenever I finish a leaf or a design, and am excited to incorporate some type of floral element into my final design.

As I reflect on this, I am proud of myself for taking the journey to work on it and finish it! I also am proud of the finished product, although not perfect, I actually like seeing the imperfections because I think it shows the journey I took to complete it. I really enjoy the way the satin stitch looks especially when it comes to the floral aspect of it. I do want to try and perfect the outline of the leaves and will continue to work on that.

Next, I plan on working on another floral design with more stitches to help work on my techniques for other stitches I plan on using in my final product. I have decided I want to create some sort of floral design for my mom for mother's day.

I also penciled in the outline of the blue threads I will be adding to give an extra dimension to the next layer of petals. I am going to try and do the Long and Short Stitches around them, but it may not end up working out that way.

So I ended up not being able to conquer doing the Long & Short stitch around the blue thread, so I just stitched over it. It was a little more difficult, but I think it looks a lot cleaner. I also think the color looks better in person, and am excited to see what it looks like during the day in the sunlight (I am working on this at night).

Also, I was starting to get stressed from thinking I had a lot more to do if I wanted to complete this whole design, but then I realized these are all goals I am putting on myself and I should be taking this opportunity to learn, challenge myself, and have fun, not stress about getting something perfectly complete. I think that is the perfectionist in me, but I remind myself that my end goal is not to be a professional sewer or own an embroidery shop, rather I want to just continue to build upon and strengthen my skills. Also, my end goal is a fun Mother's Day present for my mom, and I know she will appreciate the work and effort I put into it a lot more than the final product!

Because of this, I decided to use this floral design as that opportunity to practice my skills - so instead of doing the satin stitch six more times on a bunch of different petals, I will work on other stitches within the design and then use whatever I find most interesting, enjoyable, and challenging to use in my Mother's Day gift. I think this will be more useful in terms of my time and enjoyment.

I am excited to see how this turns out, though!

The first couple of attempts on the other fabric did not turn out well because of the wider gaps in the material, but it worked much better with this linen. I had some trouble at the beginning with the bottom row of dots and could not get the needle through, however, I started getting the hang of it. I think it will also look better really close and clustered together, so I am going to design it that way on my floral piece.

At first, I started working on it and continued to mess up with the knot going all the way through the fabric to the other side. I got frustrated and wanted to do a completely different design because I felt like I wasn't in my state of flow that I felt like I had been experiencing previously. However, I realized that the whole point of the state of flow is the subconscious element of it, and not being able to force it. I realized that I also am not going to be in that state every time I am working on this skill or am trying to be creative, but part of creativity is the challenging aspect of it. Being creative includes challenging yourself at a level that you can still accomplish whatever task it is you are trying to do, while really stretching yourself - and that is what I ended up doing and I love the way it turned out!!

I will definitely be using this design in my final product.

• see Final video for more details

• see Final video for more details