[I am following Anne Brooke‘s 2021 #52tagshannemade slow stitch challenge to make a little tag every week of the year – see them all here!] As we were at another week divisible by four, Anne chose a stitch theme: buttonhole stitch. I had recently seen this video by Nakshi Katha Design so of course I emulated it on my wee tag.

The thoughts of the week was mostly looking forward to getting my first vaccine shot – illustrated with a buttonhole stitch and colonial knots. (There is a way to do a knot as you do the buttonhole stitch, but I didn’t think to try that method.) However, then I became aware of the murders in Atlanta, so I stitched 8 flowers to represent the victims. I also added a little heart charm, because I thought about my friends who are experiencing that type news differently since they aren’t white. I put “maybe racism” on my tag but only because that’s my own opinion and not what is put out there in the news. I’m not intimate with all the details like the investigators are, but I’m not convinced it had nothing to do with their ancestry. Well heck, I guess I’m being more political here.

I used a new idea for the background fabric. I simply flipped it over so that it was a faded design. I would have never considered that except the world of slow stitch includes that often enough. I even left the selvage on there because I liked the pattern of holes. I especially like the little detached bow, tying all the flowers together.

I would have liked to not have had to stitch something in memory of people who lost their lives so tragically. And, I stitched this up the day that the Boulder shooting happened (though I wasn’t aware of that until later). So, guess what my next tag symbolizes…