Good morning, all! And a Happy Friday all around!

The last couple days, I’ve been picking up this little piece of stitching that I showed you on Wednesday (with the hollyhocks), and working a few stitches here and there, now and then, in a very laid-back sort of way.

And you know, I’m thoroughly convinced that this is the way embroidery for pleasure should be – you pick it up when the urge strikes, you stitch on it for as long as you’re enjoying the process and it gives you some pleasure or relaxation, and then you put it down until the next time. No pressure. Just enjoy it!

While I’ve been working on this little project, I’ve had to play the “make do” game. It’s a good game to play!

In my studio, which is no longer in my garage but in a separate building down the road from my house, I have all my embroidery thread collections, just waiting to be put to use while I’m at work.

But in my house, I no longer have any wide assortment of embroidery goods. There’s just not a lot of room in 700 square feet, you know?

So when I picked up this tea towel earlier this week just to have something to work on, I was limited to whatever threads happened to be in a little bag close by. And once I started stitching, I realized that it isn’t the widest color palette in the world!

There’s not a lot of contrast in this particular batch of threads. There are no darks, like dark brown or black; dark blue; deep forest green. All the colors seem to be somewhat medium to light in tone, bright and cheery, but not much contrast.

So when I set out to embroider the little butterfly above, I initially bemoaned the lack of dark colors for contrast. And I almost skipped the butterfly altogether.

But then I said to myself, “Make do.”

And I pulled out whatever colors struck me, used very simple stitches (stem stitch for outlines and lines, French knots for dots, and some fly stitches) and before I knew it, there was a little mothy-looking butterfly. Not a work of art, perhaps – but I like him!

Sometimes, it’s easy to get caught up in thinking we need this particular thread or this particular color before we can make any kind of progress on even the simplest needlework. I think our world promotes the idea that we have to have – sometimes just for the sake of having – before we can do.

One of my favorite mottos is this:

Don’t let what you can’t do keep you from doing what you can.

I decided I’d apply it to this piece of embroidery, using what limited threads I have on hand, and making do. And you know what? I don’t think it’ll come out too badly!

It’s fun – and it’s very freeing!

I don’t have to spend a lot of time making decisions. I can just stitch as it strikes me.

And that’s when embroidery, I think, is the most pleasurable.

This Design – and The Other One

As I mentioned on Wednesday, this design (like these floral corner designs) was a doodle I was thinking of using for classes this summer.

I’ll be making them all available here on Needle ‘n Thread. The Floral Corners are almost ready – I was working on the last round of photo tutorials for the stitch guide when things went medically amuck. I’ll be getting back to that next week, so that I can get them out to you soon!

Coming Up

I’ve got a few neat little tidbits to share with you from out in the embroidery world, so I’ll be putting together those for your entertainment and information. I’ve got a couple new books to show you. And a tool – a lovely little tool!

Now that September is here, you might be thinking in terms of Christmas stitching. I know I am! I’ve been doodling on some new designs. If you’re looking for anything particularly holiday-ish to stitch right now to get ahead of the holiday rush, why not take a look at my e-book, Twelve Trees for Christmas? They’re a heap of fun!

Here’s hoping you have a very pleasant weekend with your needle and thread!