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| Woody and Buzz |
Some of you know that I worked in Algeria for a number of years during a period of some of the worst terrorist activity in that Muslim country's history. Needless to say, it was a stressful work location that kept me and my co-workers on full alert for danger twenty-four hours a day. Sleep was difficult at times and all of us searched for something that would take our minds off the turmoil surrounding us. For me that turned out to be cross stitching, a skill I was coerced into learning in the early eighties when my wife (a homeroom mother for one of our daughters) desperately needed some help preparing Christmas ornaments for the classroom (can you even remember a time when Christmas was observed in the classroom as a normal part of the school year this way?).
And, wow...it still works.
The cartoon photo is a project I'm finishing up right now for my youngest grandson's bedroom wall. (I am embarrassed to think how long ago he asked for the picture to be done - think I started it at least five years ago.) I just need to finish up Woody's shirt, put the spurs on his boots, and (probably) add their names in script to the empty spot in the upper lefthand corner.
Then I'm thinking about working on this picture of the Lincoln family in the White House that I've also attached here - but it is huge and will take so long that I will probably be picking up smaller projects on the side. Who knows? I'm just grateful that I've rediscovered the benefits of this kind of thing.
Post #2,521
Good for you Sam. I am a quilter and although I make many of my quilts by machine nowadays, I still always have one that I'm working on my hand. I can't have too many projects going at one time--that's my motto. I've often been intrigued by cross stitch. I just love the way it looks. Maybe I'll give a try one day. Happy stitching!
ReplyDeleteThat Lincoln piece is roughly a foot and a half by just under two feet in area, Maxine. More precisely, it is 408.5 square inches, with not a single part of that area left unstitched. At 14 "boxes" per inch, that comes to 5,719 of those boxes to count and stitch...so "side projects" are pretty likely.
Delete(Can you tell I was an accountant?) :-)
I think you may have given me the final push to go back to needlepointing. I used to do a lot of it, but then I stopped. Too busy. But I could definitely use something to ease stress and make me feel creative again. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I think I read too much. I need to apportion my time between reading and other things. Balance, they say.
ReplyDeleteJoan, you hit on two other important aspects of regular stitching...creativity and balance. You're right; there is a feeling of "creativity" as you watch a piece come together over time. I think the fact that stitching is such a slow process, one demanding so much concentration, that the stitcher is almost surprised to look up and see what is happening with all the effort and progress being made.
DeleteAnd balance...that is very necessary. I think that you will find, as I did, that your reading - if it does not completely dominate your day, every day - becomes more pleasurable and meaningful to you. It is easy for reading to go stale on us, and adding another regular hobby or activity like stitching, should help keep that from happening.