Stitch, stitch, stitch!

When someone asks anyone in my family what my favorite hobby is, they will all chorus, "Cross-stitch!" Well, the kids call it "sewing," but they know what it means.

I stitch whenever I have a spare moment. I usually have several projects going at once and there's usually one in a bag, ready for me to grab and take with me wherever I go. I have a fear of being caught someplace with nothing to do, so I try to be prepared for those moments. I stitch while I'm watching television with the kids and I stitch while visiting with friends. However, I have not "sunk" to the point where I stitch in the bathroom!

What's next best to stitching is shopping for stitching! I love to keep my eyes on eBay, but more fun than that, is discovering unique designs found only over here. I really like Asian designs and my stash is quickly building up with items that can't be found elsewhere.

I subscribe to an online magazine (The Gift of Stitching Magazine http://www.thegiftofstitching.com/) and I finally actually stitched a project from it. It was a switch for me to stitch such a design, but I really like the results.

But the background first . . .

I discovered a wholesale cross stitch shop in my town. Pure shopping heaven for me! It's almost like a flea market as you never know what's going to be there. (However, on my last trip to the shop, I discovered that it is now organized!) On one of my trips there (I'm always bringing new customers to this shop so the owner bargains with me all the time!) I discovered a very disorganized box of "mystery threads." I had no idea what kind of threads they were, but I loved the colors and sheen. The owner wanted fifty cents (local currency), so I started to pick out colors. I got a bit frustrated because they kept getting tangled up and I told the friend with me, "I just going to offer her 100 dollars (local currency) for the whole box. I then went to the owner and asked her how much she would take for the entire box. I was ready to bargain. She looked around to make sure no other customers were in earshot and said, "Thirty cents per skein." She cut her price almost in half.

We went to work. One of the assistants and I wound and sorted and when it was all said and done, I purchased 402 skeins for 120 dollars local currency. That converts to about $16 US. There is so much I can do with those threads and I couldn't wait to start. (see bottom photo)

In Janary 2008, The Gift of Stitching published a design by Tracy Horner of Ink Circles (http://www.inkcircles.com/). It was entitled "Celtic Quilts: Corn & Beans" and I fell in love with it immediately. I had ordered some linen to be mailed to me (I haven't found a good supply of cross stitch fabric yet) and the day it arrived was the day I started the project, using the threads from my "thread find." I finished it on May 20 (see top photo). I'm looking forward to framing it, but I am hoping to get a couple of other designs finished before then.