Needle and thread – part 1

We are in the throes of a major life transition moving from southwestern Colorado to central Washington. For someone who moved a lot in my teen and adult years, this one is by far the most dramatic and drawn out. The process of this move has included: selling our home after two days on the market, driving west in inclement weather pulling a trailer that is also now your home, storing everything we own in a facility in another state, finding a new home to buy during a frenzied market, having a house offer accepted on our fourth attempt, living in an RV for two months in four different parks in two different states, finishing up my prior job remotely and starting a new job remotely. Did I mention that we live in a 16′ x 6′ foot camper too?

Despite the small size of our living quarters, I knew that I could not go through this transition without activities. The sewing room and library pick up services have been my refuge, especially the last year, so I had to find alternatives to these balms. I have always enjoyed doing hand work, beginning with cross stitch as a kid. There is something very meditative about hand stitching and I simply enjoy the process. All of the hand work I’ve done in the last few years has been hand quilting, but after being inspired by other forms of hand sewing (embroidery, sashiko, mending), I decided that this here is my perfect opportunity to spend some quality time hand stitching.

I brought 3 pieces of fabric along with me and my embroidery floss stash. I have loads of floss I purchased at thrift stores and I probably have spent $3 total on what would have cost much more at a chain craft store. Good old thrift stores! I chose 3 different fabrics to work on. One (pictured at the top) is an incredible ice dyed piece a friend gave me years ago that I have been too afraid to cut because it is so beautiful. Another fabric is an onion skin dyed fabric I made and the third is a printed fabric that I can use to stitch over the print.

When I packed my life into 4 little overhead bins, I imagined I would have loads of time to hand stitch and read and therefore dedicated one cubby (25% of my allotment!) to entertainment. Did I need the 600 page Don DeLillo book or William Faulkner novel? It appears not as the reality is that I have not had much time at all to spend on my hobbies. Between working 9 hour days in a different time zone, and our evening excursions to the Columbia river (which includes learning how to skip rocks and play frisbee golf, while also avoiding tumbleweeds) and just life, my free time seems to have evaporated. It is the strangest thing to live so simply and be so busy.

The time that I am getting to spend stitching is often while my husband is fishing. Instead of burying my head in a book or looking at rocks (I am trying to minimize the rock collection in my already cluttered space), I stitch. I have sewn in the Owyhee canyon, on the Wallowa, Columbia and John Day rivers, various ponds in the Umatilla Wildlife Refuge and in 4 different RV parks. I have also stitched by a couple of campfires and several grilled meals. I love that these projects are so portable and wonder why I haven’t always had a hand sewing project tucked away in my purse, just like an emergency granola bar. I really do not have a clear plan of what these projects will become; I’m simply enjoying the process of sewing. Not to mention sewing outside in the beautiful western U.S.

As these projects evolve, I will share more pictures and lessons learned in hand stitching. Until then, stitch on. Oh, and listen to Eilen Jewell while you’re at it. She is a phenomenal songwriter, singer and musician from Idaho whose songs evoke the western landscape. I cannot recommend Eilen enough — she is superb.

Albums listened to: well, mostly water and birds but Eilen Jewell “Sundown over Ghost Town” inspired the name of these evolving projects.