In August, 2009, a group of six friends (Joan, Jackie, Jill, Cathy, Lori, and Chris,) decided to make Ackworth Friendship Books a year-long stitch-along project. Their goal was to have their stitching completed by August 2010, in time for their annual retreat. One of their main retreat activities was assembling their stitched books.
All six ladies stitched their books on 36-count Flax linen. Each chose her own thread color.
Each person stitched her front and back pages. Her friends stitched the other pages. (There are 10 pages total in the book.) Group member Cathy made a spreadsheet so each person knew which pages she was to stitch for each of her friends.
Here are photos of four of the completed books. The first photo shows the front covers of Joan’s book on the left and Jill's on the right.
Here are Joan’s and Jill’s books opened up. You can see the initials of their friends on each page.
Next is the reverse side of each book.
Next are two photos of Cathy’s, Joan’s, Jill’s, and Jackie’s books.
Cathy stitched her book with Threadworx #10051, Wine Castle, thread.
Joan used Belle Soie Enchanted Forest thread.
Jill used Threadworx #1157, Morning Meadows, thread.
Jackie used Threadworx #1038, Cherry Cola, thread.
In 2008 this same group of talented ladies stitched My Favorite Things Stitching Basket as their stitch-along project. Perhaps you remember seeing Jill’s beautiful completed basket (http://www.withmyneedle-ellen.blogspot.com/search?q=jill) that I showed on my blog on June 4, 2009. Jill was so creative that she added another accessory, a tape measure cover, to those I had designed.
Thanks, Joan, Jill, Cathy, and Jackie for again sharing photos of your beautiful work. I’m looking forward to hearing what project you decide to work on next.
Happy stitching!!
All six ladies stitched their books on 36-count Flax linen. Each chose her own thread color.
Each person stitched her front and back pages. Her friends stitched the other pages. (There are 10 pages total in the book.) Group member Cathy made a spreadsheet so each person knew which pages she was to stitch for each of her friends.
Here are photos of four of the completed books. The first photo shows the front covers of Joan’s book on the left and Jill's on the right.
Here are Joan’s and Jill’s books opened up. You can see the initials of their friends on each page.Next is the reverse side of each book.Next are two photos of Cathy’s, Joan’s, Jill’s, and Jackie’s books.Cathy stitched her book with Threadworx #10051, Wine Castle, thread.
Joan used Belle Soie Enchanted Forest thread.
Jill used Threadworx #1157, Morning Meadows, thread.
Jackie used Threadworx #1038, Cherry Cola, thread.
In 2008 this same group of talented ladies stitched My Favorite Things Stitching Basket as their stitch-along project. Perhaps you remember seeing Jill’s beautiful completed basket (http://www.withmyneedle-ellen.blogspot.com/search?q=jill) that I showed on my blog on June 4, 2009. Jill was so creative that she added another accessory, a tape measure cover, to those I had designed.Thanks, Joan, Jill, Cathy, and Jackie for again sharing photos of your beautiful work. I’m looking forward to hearing what project you decide to work on next.
Happy stitching!!
7 comments:
They are just STUNNING! When I stop all these exchanges I must stitch this for myself instead of doing one here and one there for my Quaker Exchange Group.
Love
Patti xxx
Their books look so wonderful together! It's the perfect piece for a friends' SAL!
Thanks for posting our pictures. I really enjoy stitching group projects with my friends.
Love how these books turned out!! very inspiring!!
How are you feeling?
Oh how pretty, and they look like such fun!
Hi Ellen,
I stitched the red one - this was a fun project to do with friends. The completed project is stunning. Thank you for designing such a beautiful piece!
Those are just lovely. I only recently purchased this pattern and am anxious to get started. I know I'll probably have a hard time finding fabric (i.e. the fabric you use to put it together, not the actual linen you stitch on) but putting the book together will a real challenge for me. Will be crossing my fingers.
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