Stitching whimsy...

This year I am participating in a stitching challenge!! TAST (Take A Stitch Tuesday) is a Facebook group with a focus on hand embroidery.  It offers inspiration through a simple challenge -  members are given a new stitch every Tuesday to learn and practice.  The creative talent in this group is amazing!
Here's my stitching so far with week 1 Running Stitch and week 2 Buttonhole stitch.

I found premade fabric yo-yos at an estate sale last year. I've always had a fondness for yo-yos.  Traditional yo-yo quilts feel like fresh country home and lace to me.

Depending on size of quilt and size of yo-yos, a quilt can require 1,000 to 2,000 pieces that then need to be sewn together.  Anybody that knows me knows I love hand work and can sit sewing for hours... And yet after 10 or 15 yo-yos I'm ready to move onto another project.  Making a full sized traditional yo-yo quilt from start to finish is not in my (near) future! (Let's not completely rule it out 🤣.)

Anyway, back to TAST! The idea is to experiment with stitches.  I haven't embroidered much in years....

..omgosh my thoughts wander... My mom taught me a few embroidery stitches when I was very young.  She put a simple design on the back of undies and let me practice my stitches.  Haha, I have no idea why we chose undies for my project but I was thrilled!  I know it was a whimsical design, perfect for a little girl, but it's a single flower that I remember most. Maybe it was a daisy. I gave a lot a of attention to the flower center.  I purposely built up the stitches so that there was a bump. Lol, I remember this most because when all the stitching was done and I finally wore the undies, that flower center bump gave me a bruise! Hahaha 🤣 so silly.

Ok, really back to TAST!  It's a year long challenge to experiment with the suggested stitch.  For more info go to the hostess Sharon Boggon's web page TAST - Pintangle.

Most attractive to me is there are no rules. No parameters. No deadlines, it's the participant's choice to do it or not.  No particular list of materials. Participants vary from beginners to very advanced.  I consider myself an advanced beginner.  So for me, this becomes an exercise in using my own creative flow.  I get to blend quilting and embroidery 😄.

It's quite exciting!  I don't have a clue what the end product is going to look like.  I have no clue what the next stitch will be or how/where I'll be inspired to put it, or even if I'll get to fit all 52 suggested stitches into this quilt!!

I'm going for expressing my item Whimsy Hita's style. And I'm thrilled to pieces then my Sweetling looks at my progress so far, gives a nod of approval and says, "it looks like you!" 

🤣🤗