Happy New Year!

 Hello friends, 

I hope you all had a nice, relaxing, and rejuvenating Christmas break! Ours was wonderful, with all our kids home for Christmas. We enjoyed each other's company, played games, watched movies, and ate way too many yummy food and treats. So now it's time to get back into a post-holiday mindset...goodbye chocolate, I will miss you!

I had so many good intentions of finishing up some of my Christmas quilts before Christmas, but I didn't do one stitch on any of those projects! That's okay, because I am planning on working on these quilts now, and then I will have them finished for sure by next Christmas ;). 

One new project that I have decided to add to my list is my embroidered journal. I recently read about someone who kept a journal of embroidered words and images for an entire year ( 365 of them!) to have as a keepsake of that year at the end. I loved that idea but,  being a realist, knew that I would NEVER keep up with that many embroideries. So I am making it simpler on myself by just doing one embroidery per week. That is 52 images or words, and that is a much more doable number for me. Want to join me? All you will need is some background fabric, a hoop,  a little notebook, a pencil, and your favorite embroidery floss, so there is really not a lot of prep. 

 Here is what I'm using/doing:

• Fabric: I prepped two pieces of muslin ( cut a little larger than 18 by 24 inches). You can make yours whatever size you want, but make sure it is close to a standard poster -size frame, because you will want to frame this, right?! I stitched my muslin pieces together around the outside edges, like this: 

Why 2 pieces? Because I don't want my thread to show through to the front if I "travel". Normally I use batting behind my embroidery, but I'm planning on framing this and I wasn't sure if the batting would be an issue.

• A hoop~ if you use one to do embroidery: It can be a small one, because you will only be embroidering one item at a time, so your hoop can move wherever you need it.
• A little notebook: This is to jot down ideas or happenings from your week. You can pick one at the end of the week that you choose to use. 
  
  
  
• A pencil: For recording your ideas and to draw your design on your fabric.
• Embroidery thread: Use your favorite. I'll be using my absolute favorite thread for embroidery and big stitch quilting: Sulky Cotton Petites ( click). The reason why I like it? One strand is equivalent to 2 strands of regular ( DMC) floss, but you don't have to separate anything...just cut and sew.

That is really all you will need to sew along on this project with me. I am going to be sharing my "entry" into my journal every Sunday on Instagram, so you can check it out there. I might even remember to share some of them here and in my Facebook group. If you are going to sew along, use the hashtag #journaling2022withembroidery when you post your photos so that I can find you, and also feel free to tag @farmhousequilts. The more, the merrier!

Alright, that is all for this week. Next week I'll be sharing a little home improvement project I started this week...oh the joys of living in an older home ;).

Until next time~happy creating!

Monique