stitch book challenge – day 1 – curiosity

Let’s baby step our way to 100 days of creative stitching. Let’s not worry about the outcome. Let’s find out what happens when you show up in a small way consistently. Let’s watch ourselves work. Learning more about how you work is one of the benefits of working- notice where you get stuck, notice what lights you up, feel for your curiosity…

The 100 day stitch book challenge starts today! Please be sure to read these two pages completely before you start:

1 – Before you do anything else please read this page carefully.

2 – Find the tutorial for how to cut your pages and make the book here. We don’t assemble the book until the pages are done but it’s good to know where we are headed. Take special note of how the pages will be stitched together and where you might want to leave a margin.

The books above are the result of the previous stitch book challenges. The book on the right  has raw edges and the book on the left has finished edges- you’ll have the option to choose when we assemble at the end of the 100 days.

a couple things to consider

15 minutes is a suggestion – a good minimum- overachievers are welcome to do more.

The process lends itself to improvisational stitching – starting without knowing – working without a plan. It’s not the only way to approach this challenge but it’s my focus and when I offer suggestions and inspiration sources it will be in that context.

Community is key. We are each other’s accountability partners. Showing work in progress can feel weird but it helps you stay on track. It’s not mandatory to post every single day but I think it’s helpful to you to take a photo of each day’s progress for yourself.

Speaking of sharing – you can share on insta etc with

#stitchbookchallenge2025

FYI Hashtags can take a while to show up on social media. You can also – totally optional – join the stitch club community – it’s the private sharing space for ann wood handmade.

Daily practice- even a small one – is hard. Give yourself credit for showing up for it and take it one day at a time.

helpful blog posts:

the shimmering space between

7 ideas for your 100 day stitchbook

day 1

One thing leads to another if you let it. You just have to start. To set myself up for success I cut some pages and gathered some scraps to work with. It was all waiting for me this morning. My to go kit is ready and I have a plan for bad days. The rest is so easy- just stitch for 15 minutes. Begin without a plan. You get somewhere new by starting without knowing, make a mark (in this case a stitch, a patch etc.) and respond to it.

curiosity

Let curiosity drive you in this process. What’s around the next corner? The books, the pages, and the whole process have surprised me each year. The daily thing is really a slog sometimes. I have not loved every image, I cringe when sharing my missteps. And, it’s all totally worth it. I get to places in my imagination I never otherwise would. That is everything. It’s the “youness” thing.

“No one is youer than you.” – Dr. Seuss

 

The world only has one chance at what’s in there – one chance at you. I think it’s worth time, energy, embarrassment, failure and disappointment to work your way through to the deepest, most truly creative work you can do – the youest – the work of your utterly unique imagination. Listen carefully for the magic – it is there- waiting to be noticed… Listening is part of the work. That kind of listening takes practice and patience and the afore mentioned showing up.

be curious
be open
show up