Finish It In 2019 - April Update

The Finish it in 2019 SAL is hosted by MagicalQuilt and More

As I mentioned in the presentation post for that SAL I wrote in January I have three projects from 2018 I would like to finish in 2019 and this SAL is a good opportunity for that.

This time I decided to finish one of the parts of my project Sabbats from The Primitive Hare. I started this project in 2017, continued with it in 2018 and I hope to finish it in 2019.

I finished Lammas and Mabon in 2017 and Imbolc and Ostara in 2018. Now it was the turn of Litha. As with the previous Sabbats I stitched it in 18 count Aida rustic Oatmeal. This time I used a deep yellow fabric printed with flowers for the back.

Beltane Embroidery

1^st May was the festivity of Beltane or May Day. Beltane is a pagan festivity in which we celebrate the union of the God and the Goddess. The God, born in Yule, is now a young man and the Goddess is ready to become pregnant again after giving birth to the God. God and Goddess celebrate their union and Goddess become pregnant (she will give birth in Yule). It is one of the fire festivals. In the celtic costumes it was a festivity dedicated to the god Belenus. Fires are lit and people go around and over them as a sign of purification.

The most popular of this festivity is the May Pole. That is a stick or pole (phallic symbol representing the God) in which ribbons are attached to the top. Ribbons are normally red and white representing the transition of the Goddess from Maiden (white) to Mother (red). People hold a ribbon each and dance around the pole, representing the union of the God and the Goddess.

I continued stitching the Sabbat serie I am doing. This time I didn’t have time to finish in time the Primitive Hare’s design and I will be stitching it during the month of May.

The CTHdesign for Beltane was more complicated than the previous I did, it has a lot of “confetti” and colors are very similar, but finally I finished it.

I also stitched something that is not part of the Beltane decoration but it is part of my pagan embroideries and for that reason I would like to show it here. It is small embroidery with the words “Blessed Be”. I finished it with an oval open card in cream color and I am keeping it at the main home entrance to bless people who come home.

Ostara Embroideries

Last month, on the 20th March, spring arrived and it was the celebration of Ostara. This festivity celebrates the spring equinox, when the length of day and night are equal and the point from which the day length starts to increase.

This celebration is dedicated to the goddess Eostre. Associated to that goddess are the eggs and the hare. Eggs are a symbol of fertility and renewal and the hare was what we can call, with all my respects, Eostre’s pet.

To celebrate Ostara, and also Easter, I stitched two Ostara designs. One of them is a freebie from The Primitive Hare. I stitched it in 18 count rustic Aida fabric. It ia a typical Easter/Ostara design.

The other one is part of the CTHdesign’s Sabbats collection I am doing. It is colourful and for this embroidery I used 14 count pale blue Aida fabric. This one contains daffodils and eggs in the design, typical from the season.

Imbolc Embroidery

We are in Imbolc time. It is time to celebrate that days are becoming longer, weather is warmer and earth is coming to life again. Everywhere you can see snowdrops and daffodils growing, animals start the mating season and life is coming back. I like to prepare some Imbolc decoration at home, as a solar disc and a Brigit cross.

I did this year two cross stitched decorations. One of them is a freebie design from The Primitive Hare. It shows two of the most important symbols from Imbolc, a snowdrop and a sheep. It is made in Aida rustic 18 count.

The other design is from CTdesign and I bought it in Etsy. It is made in Aida navy blue 14 count with white and gold metallic threads and represents snowflakes and candles.

Pagan Embroidery 1

It is not easy to find embroidery related to pagan symbols. Even the patterns available are scarce and most of the time quite expensive. I found some freebies in pagan symbols and I decided to make them and, why no, sell them in my Etsy shop. For the moment they are only five but I will extend the collection and have so much more in the next weeks.

I started for the most important symbols for any Pagan, the Horned God and the Triple Goddess. They are embroidered over Aida 14 count cream with black thread and mounted on white felt.

Another Triple Goddess symbol is the Goddess Spiral, which represents the Goddess in Her three aspects: Maiden, Mother and Crone. It is done in Aida 14 count with golden thread mounted on white felt.

One I like too much is Hekate's Wheel or Hekate's Strophalos, which is a symbol specific of the goddess Hekate, Goddess of the darkness in Her Crone aspect related with the New Moon. It is embroidered in one of Her colours, black, and mounted over purple felt.

Finally, because we are in the dates around Lammas, I started a series of banner called Wheel of the Year Banners. I will prepare one for each one of the Sabbats. I decide to mount as a banner so you can hang it in the front of your Altar.

All of these embroideries can be order from my Etsy shop. They are completly customizable and will be made specially for you.

As usual, comments are welcome.