As we get into the holiday season, I’m grateful for the things I’ve had a chance to experience this year. I’m grateful for the freedom to express myself through art and the confidence to try in the first place. And I’m very grateful for all the people my artwork has allowed me to connect with. I’m especially grateful for this community of like-minded people. My life is richer for knowing you.

As I reflect on episode 41 of stitch the sketch, I’m grateful for how far I’ve come in this project. When I started out I didn’t have a clue where this path will lead me. And now here I am 11 months after I embarked on this journey and I still don’t know everything about how the next piece I create will turn out.
Grateful for Hard Times
I’m grateful that when things got hard, and I couldn’t see how I’d possibly be able to make the time to juggle all the responsibilities that I have, I somehow found the strength to keep going. I’m especially grateful for you because you became my accountability partner on this journey. Knowing that you there rooting for me to succeed, helped me show up for the next episode. Thank you. π π π
Grateful for You
I’m grateful for your words of encouragement. I feel truly blessed whenever I hear you tell me how much I’ve inspired you. I don’t mean it lightly when I say that you inspire me to inspire you.
And before I go, I’ve got to share what I did in Episode 41 with you. When I compare episode 1 with episode 41, what a difference!!! In episode 41, I concentrated on two things.
Thick Lines
I used thick lines to shade. To achieve this I stitched repeatedly over the same line a couple of times. I experimented with three different ways of using thick lines to shade.
- One was with the use of straight up and down stitches parallel to each other then,
- I had parallel stitches radiating from a central point and then finally
- Curvy stitches which I stitched parallel to each other by traveling a short distance and then repeating the shape.
Negative Space
The second thing I explored in this episode is the use of negative space. I went back to episode 39 and built on the effect I created with the negative space in that piece.
As you can see, each episode builds on something from the previous episode. This has led to so much growth in my technical skills. And for that too, I’m grateful.
Warmest Regards,
Watch all the Thread Sketching Videos and Learn the Thread Sketching Tips & Techniques.
Very well said, Clara!!! And we are very grateful for all you have shared with us over this year in both your blog and video’s!!! You inspire and urge us on! You give us such great tutorials to fill our heads with even more idea’s of fun things to create and how to!!! It is always the highlight of my day to read your blog, newsletter and watch you in action!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you for all you do and share!!! You are a true blessing to so many!!! Joan
Aww, Joan. Those are very wonderful words. A heartfelt thanks to you.
Clara.
Hey Joan, thanks again for those lovely comments.
I echo Joan’s comments. When I started to watch your videos, I was fairly new to free machining, but I have successfully completed my coursework module on this and designed and made my first wall panel. I will send you a photo when the work has been assessed, and am confident it will be okay. Many thanks for all you share xx Andrea xx
That’s absolutely wonderful, Andrea. I’m happy for you. I can’t wait to see your course work.