Thowback Thursday 1

Last week I received a new computer. In looking to see what data I wanted to move from my old computer to my new computer, I came across the folders that contain the information from my old website, CameoRoze's Stitcher's Studio. In the mid-to-late 1990s, before Google was a thing and Alta Vista wasn't that good, there were people like me creating websites that were repositories of information on specific subjects. My subject was counted cross-stitch.

I had lots of information there including, but not limited to:

• Cross-stitch book reviews
• Designer profiles
• Specialty store reviews
• Links to designer's websites
• Instructions for finishing - getting stitchery ready for display
• Links to free cross-stitch charts
• My own completed stitchery

I had my website for a decade. Then I morphed my ideas and interests into this blog format. I've now had this blog for more than a decade!

With Facebook, Instagram, and other outlets, personal blogs don't fill the niche they used to hold. I keep mine up because I think of it as an informal, digital scrapbook. I doubt I'll ever get around to making paper scrapbooks or detailed photo albums. Instead, I have my blog full of daily reminders of what's been going on in my life for the last decade.

So for a time, I'll join the #ThrowbackThursday bandwagon and share some of the images and stories from my old website. Here are some images (some very very poor!) of embroidered pieces I created before 1994. My first reason to learn photography was so that I could take better photos for my blog!

Approx 1974

This was to be a pillow for a person I loved, but drove me crazy as she was always trying to "teach" me, whether or not I was open to the teaching. The quotation from Albert Camus was displayed in my high school library. I recalled the quote incorrectly, but this is how it reads on my pillow:

Don't walk in front of me

I may not follow

Don't walk behind me

I may not lead

Walk beside me

And just be my friend

I loved the sentiment. I created the design and stitched it to this point. As you can see, the stitching is so close to the edges that there's not enough room for a seam. Plus, there's a sticky stain in the upper left corner that will forever remain. I may finish the pillow yet ... I have a cute plaid fabric for the pillow back.

1976

In the summer of 1976 my family made a cross-country trip in honor of the national bicentennial. Besides seeing national parks, monuments and historical sites, we visited the cities where my parents grew up and attended college.

At one point, my maternal grandparents owned a Ben Franklin store in Illinois. We stopped by for old time's sake. There I found two printed pillow cases and some embroidery floss. Here's a portion of one of the pillow cases I finished. It's surface embroidery with a thread crochet edge.

Approx 1982

When I was a college student, my parents and younger brothers moved to a new home. There, my dad was able to have a room of his own to use as an office. So I designed and stitched this sampler for him as a Christmas gift, using reference books from the library as inspiration. I made up the verse myself:

A Man's Office

A place of his own
to do
as he wishes
He can read
write and sleep
without worry
of dishes

My mom was not amused.

To finish it, I glued the sampler to a piece of cardboard, then covered the back of the cardboard with a piece of felt that I also glued down. I also glued on a label that says, "Specially Hand Made By Margaret." The frame appears to be an inexpensive wooden frame with no glass. But there is no hanging device! If you look very carefully, you can see a spot just above the "M" and "N" at the top. That is where Dad stuck a push-pin through the front of the sampler to hang it on the wall.

After he died, this sampler came back to me.

1986

This little plaque was one of my very first counted cross-stitch pieces. I made it for an old boyfriend who was getting married. I was invited to the wedding by phone (it seems my official paper invitation was "lost"!) I was married and 7 months pregnant at the time. Even then, got a steely look from the bride at the reception. I never received a thank you note -- it was probably "lost" too!

The original chart came from some magazine or library book, I guess. When I reorganized my Studio, I found the old photocopy. I don’t have any other documentation for this chart. I find it rather amazing that I had the wherewithal to snap a photo!

In looking at these pieces, I can clearly recall other embroidered gifts I gave friends. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of them. I can see that this walk down memory lane is going to be fun for me.