Peace for Ukraine Stitchalong Underway!

 

image by @EmbroideryArtbyNat

I mentioned that I have started this beautiful project by Natalie of EmbroideryArtbyNat; you can find the pattern and all the information about how to donate to Ukrainian charities and other ways to help Ukraine, on her website and Etsy store. (hot tip: there's a 30% off sale in her shop this week!)

I thought I'd better get going on prepping this project so that I can finish it up this summer - I have a long trail of unfinished projects behind me, but this one is a special one that I'm very motivated to finish. 

There's a lot of compact stitching in this design, but the central heart is painted in blue and yellow to set the base. (Although there are other versions out there where people have gone their own way with the heart - if you check out the #PeaceforUkraineSAL hashtag on Instagram you can see some of the creative approaches that have been used). 

However, I decided that I am going to follow this pattern as closely as possible. I don't often follow along with patterns, liking to go my own way, but this one looks perfect to me, so I'll follow directions ;) 

So to make a quick start, I popped out the craft store and picked up some craft acrylics in the exact tones of blue and yellow I wanted. I already had some fabric medium so mixed up the colour with a touch of medium and was ready to go. The fabric medium helps regular acrylic to adhere better to the fabric and also gives it a bit of flexibility so that it won't crack when I'm manipulating the hoop with all the stitching. At least that is what I think!

Anyhow, it was a lot easier than I expected to follow the outlines and fill in the heart shape. I let it dry and then decided I needed a second coat for solid coverage. I found it quite fun to paint on fabric... uh oh, another thing to add to my endless project list ;) 

Next week: on to some stitching!