Adventures in Cross-Stitch
So....one day in late 2017 a friend who knew I embroidered asked if I could teach her homeschool class a lesson in cross-stitch. I had never done cross-stitch and didn't know anything about it except that it involved floss, a needle, and some kind of cloth. Knowing there were Youtube videos available about every subject in the world, I said yes and figured I could learn enough about it to teach 10-year-olds. And that's what I did. It was so much fun that I spent the next year or so doing nothing but cross-stitch.
The story of the orange cat cross stitch deserves special mention. Mary Ellen's daughter Eve gave me a drawing she had made as a thank you for the nightgown I had made for her. I thought it was so special that I cross-stitched it as a gift for her. I'm so proud of our collaborative art piece!
The story of the orange cat cross stitch deserves special mention. Mary Ellen's daughter Eve gave me a drawing she had made as a thank you for the nightgown I had made for her. I thought it was so special that I cross-stitched it as a gift for her. I'm so proud of our collaborative art piece!
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July 30, 2021. I took a brief break from quilting while I decided which pattern to make next (it will be Bella Nonna's Log Cabin Polka). I found the BEST free cross stitch design online that matched my philosophy perfectly. It took a little bit of effort to remember the techniques I used to use in cross stitch, but I found my groove again and finished this wonderful piece. It's hanging in my sewing room.
I think I'm going to do more cross stitch. It's so much fun to see the picture come together! |
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July 2022. After finishing two quilted wall hangings featuring the night sky, moon phrases were on my mind. "I love you to the moon and back" appealed to both Mom and me, so I explored patterns on Etsy and bought my favorite (it's delightful to buy downloadable patterns and have the immediate gratification of printing them and being able to start right away!) I chose colors for it and was more than pleased to discover--after I had finished it--that I had a variegated yarn in my stash that included ALL the colors I had chosen.
Of course, I gave it to Mom.
Of course, I gave it to Mom.
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August 2022. Wanting to do more cross-stitch before diving back into quilting, I found this adorable cat in my files. I made a purple cat. It was so cute and the project went so fast that I wanted to do more. I made a black one for Kelly, who decided she would like hearts on hers rather than stars. Then, since I had a couple of oval hoops with yarn already on them (left over from the Benny days), I made another one in blue and then an orange one. I left the Aida cloth as a border around that one rather than gathering it in back and covering it with felt.
I'm still in the mood to cross-stitch, so who knows what may be coming next? |
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September 2022. Here's what came next. More cats. What a surprise! After a couple of weeks, I tired of cross-stitching and turned back to quilting.
