Thread-u-cation Thursdays: Stitch Marks

One of my favorite stitches to make is the Stem or Outline Stitch. When placing this stitch on a solid background fabric, it's like drawing a line with a colored pencil. It is a linear stitch and if you line up a bunch of Stem Stitches you can make shapes like a basket, clouds, sky, and grass.

My little apple basket embroidery measures about 3" x 3". It is stitched on black cotton fabric in a free-form style. By free-form I mean that I didn't mark the fabric. I began by stitching the rim of the basket and designed the embroidery as I stitched. It's sort of like drawing with colored pencils only your needle and thread are your mark making tools.  And that's what embroidery is all about. Making marks on fabric!