catching up with common threads

holiday craziness sort of knocked me off schedule with the common threads quilting bee (and i think i’m not the only one), so here are two blocks i recently finished:

these fabrics were sent by nadia with a special request for embroidery.  i used the flowers in the upper left fabric as inspiration.

i’m still a beginner at embroidery, and i tried a few different stitches.  this one is outlined in split stitch, with satin stitch sections and some french knots (my first successful ones ever!)

and this one… i don’t know what the stitch is called.  i saw my mother-in-law using it this christmas when we visited and i liked the way it looked, so i thought i’d try it.  i also tried two different kinds of thread and i’m not sure which one i like better.  i hope they’re okay with nadia!

oiyi sent red and white fabrics to make a valentine’s quilt for her baby girl, melody.  some of the prints she sent were a bit “old school” and reminded me of my childhood, so i decided to use an old school simple square pattern.  i was so inspired by the sashiko work projects in the zakka sewing book that i decided to try it out on this block.  i really enjoyed this type of embroidery and i think i’ll do it again soon!

i will try to get these in the mail soon, but today it is -13 degrees (-35 with windchill) and i’m not leaving the house!  maybe i’ll finish jenny’s block today and mail them all at the same time!