Before I’d finished the first slow stitching piece I had the next one ready and waiting, but while I worked on the second piece my thoughts wandered down a different path: all the different applications I could put this stitching thing to. Which seems like planning, which is not in the spirit of slow stitching, and yet seems like exploring wherever inspiration takes me, which does.

I did a lot of exploring in the second piece.

When it was done, a bit of contemplation and experimental folding happened before I knew what it wanted to become. That, it turned out, was a zippered bag, with a quilted corduroy stripe at the bottom and as a tab at the side. I love it!

My favourite part of the stitching is this bit:

The stitch might be called ‘feather stitch’ in the little embroidery book I keep by my armchair, but linked up and meandering into a larger mass it looks like the pattern formed by streams joining to form every larger rivers, or the expanding growth form of tree branches. The stitched area has a satisfying texture not unlike lines of running stitch, but more fun to sew.

I’m also enjoying french knots more now I have the hang of them. And chain stitch, despite not really liking making daisies. I’ve always liked blanket stitch. But not so much the stem stitch I used for the spirals, which I kept having to unpick and redo because they looked too wonky.