Occasionally, I like to go strolling about online for little needlework browses. Usually, these are prompted by blog posts of other needleworkers, by newsletters, or just by my own curiosity, to see what’s going on with other embroiderers or needlework-related enterprises that I’m interested in.

When I do this, I keep a list of links that I think would be of interest to you, too, and when I have the chance, I like to mix them all up in an article, so that you can go browsing, too.

Not that I would ever advocate Procrastination or any similar Heinous Habits … but really, sometimes, it’s just Fun to procrastinate! Think of it as Relaxing. Think of it as Garnering Inspiration.

Ah – the Justification of Procrastination! I could write a book on the subject.

So, pour yourself a delectable cup of coffee or tea, and let’s go meandering together!

Before moving onto the leaves on the Secret Garden embroidery project, I wanted to show you how I muted some of the vines on the project, by adding a little twiggy brown into the mix.

Today’s mini tutorial on stem stitch curls and spirals was prompted by some questions that have come in recently via email and in the comments on the various articles on stem stitch.

Some of the questions concerned me enough to reschedule today’s planned article. It seems some of you are really struggling with stem stitch on curls and spirals. On top of that, there’s some erroneous information out there about working curls or spirals with stem stitch.

A couple readers mentioned that they have attended classes in which the instructor taught that the working thread is always on the outside of a circle or curl, no matter what direction you’re stitching in, because that’s only way the circle will look smooth and the stitches will hold in place.

Wellllllll…this isn’t exactly true. I thought we better clear that point up, just in case others suffer under the same impression.

So, in this tutorials, I hope to answer questions on working curls in stem stitch without the stitches looking spiky, and I hope to clarify the relationship between the needle and the working thread when working into a curl.

I’ve had a few questions this past week about stem stitch filling in general, mostly in conjunction with the Secret Garden embroidery project.

So today, I want to show you some close ups of stem stitch filling underway and go over a few tips about how to successfully fill an area with the stem stitch.

The stem stitch is a really versatile stitch, so whether you’re working the Secret Garden project or not, hopefully, you’ll find these tips useful for other surface embroidery projects as well.

Last time we visited the Secret Garden embroidery project, we looked at the vines on the lower half of the hummingbird design, which were underway in shaded stem stitch filling.

I’ve finished embroidering the vines on the lower half of the project, including the center scrolls.

Today, let’s look at that part of the design. I’ll tell you how I stitched it (you might want to do it differently), and share some insights on some tricky spots.