Throwback Thursday - 2004 (Part 8)

If it's Thursday, it's time to look back to projects I made years ago. This is the final project I stitched in May 2004. It's a chart called Sewing Memories by Michele Johnson which I finished as a trinket box.


Sewing Memories

This design caught my eye because of its coloring — like a sepia-tone photo. The entire piece uses only eight shades of floss, all in the off-white, grey-brown and beige color families. I tea-dyed a piece of white Monaco for the ground cloth.

Nearly the entire 84 stitch x 84 stitch area is solid stitching. The main design (quilt, sewing machine and cabinet) are stitched with full crosses. The background is two shades of floss in half crosses. It was intense stitching! It would have been wise to grid the fabric before starting to stitch. Unfortunately, I was not wise and had a number of mistakes that had to be ripped out and re-stitched. Lesson learned!

There was also a good deal of backstitching on this piece. To make the process somewhat simpler, I did the backstitching in sections as I went along. But because of needing to keep track of the multiple quarter stitches, some of the backstitching was also a challenge and time consuming. 

Once the stitching was completed, I then had a new challenge. I wanted to finish this piece in a unique way. I scoured the local thrift shops and big box stores to see if I could find a wooden jewelry box or interesting frame that I could refinish and mount this stitching in. I finally found a wooden box with a lip on the lid that was the correct size. Unfortunately, the clasp that held the lid shut was broken. Because of the problem, I was able to buy it at a 40% discount. Score!

I ended up removing the broken latch and sanding smooth the holes that the small nails left in the front of the box.

My next step was to figure out how I wanted to finish the box. Stain? Paint? Decorative painting? I finally settled on a simple decorative finish ... an ivory base coat with a forest green splatter paint technique. I painted the box inside and out, then coated it with two coats of a glossy varnish.

I used cardboard and a deep-brown felt-like fabric to make a lining for the inside of the box. That was a hit-and-miss process, since I'd previously never attempted to line a box. But it went together fairly smoothly. I got the fit so snug that it didn't even require glue to hold the lining in place. It looks sharp!

Then I mounted the stitchery to a piece of foam core using a method much like you'd do to mount stitchery for framing. I sewed the ecru cording around the edge of the stitchery and snugged it into place in the box lid. Again, the stitchery fit so well that no glue was required. (I tested it by turning the box upside-down and shaking it, trying to make the stitchery fall out. But it held!)

The very last step was to create a label to put inside the lid of the box. I created this piece for my friend, Virginia, in honor of her birthday. I enjoy making special gifts for her because, as an avid quilter, she appreciates the work I put into her gifts.