Travel in Stitches

For Christmas this year, I decided to make Joe a map of places we have been together. I bought some map fabric from Etsy, collected a pile of embroidery thread, and started.

I didn't really have a plan when I started embroidering, just a needle, thread, and a general idea. I started by outlining the continents, and then added things from there. I wanted it to be something I could add to as we visit more places, so turning it into a quilt was out. Originally I wanted to make it into a pillow with a removable cover so that I could slip it off and add more embroidery, but after sewing the pillow together, I decided it looked better just to leave it flat.

It ended up taking weeks to finish, but the hardest part was working on it while Joe wasn't home. I couldn't just pull it out while we watched a movie, so I had to be very sneaky. Luckily (for this project only) I got sick a few weeks before Christmas and that gave me the perfect two-day stretch to work on it.

So now it's hanging on the wall as is. I could frame it, finish the edges, or add it to a larger quilt, but I like it the way it is. And hopefully there will be a lot more to add to it in the next year!