Throwback Thursday - 2004 (Part 9)

I started out stitching some gifts in the summer of 2004.


If I Stitch Fast

That summer, I worked with a personal fitness trainer to learn how to have good form while weight training and healing a back injury. As we came to know each other, I learned that she was a new stitcher. While she taught me the finer points of muscle tone, I gave her tips on cross-stitch.

One week, on a Thursday, I told her that my youngest daughter was about to turn eleven.

"Oh, yeah? When?" she asked.

"Next Thursday. A week from today."

"Really? My birthday is the day before hers."

"Wow!" 

That got my mind stirring. Stitchers love to stitch for other stitchers because we can be assured that the stitched gift will be appreciated. But if I was going to stitch a gift for Jane, I now only had a week!

Into my stash I dove, and came up with this cute chart. What better sentiment for a once-fluffy stitcher to give to her personal trainer, right?

I decided to finish the stitchery as a pillow because it's a pretty quick finish. Besides, I liked the soft flannel fabric with the energetic pattern and the fuzzy trim I found.

I was able to finish the pillow in a week, and gave it to her the day after her birthday.

Bonus! Jane and I are still friends and keep in touch via Facebook.

Giraffe Bookmark

I enjoy stitching bookmarks as quick gifts. But I realized and hadn't kept any for myself. I decided to take a break from the major piece I'd been working on and make a bookmark just for me.

A giraffe, of course! This long-necked beauty came from a booklet of designs charted for Ribband. 

Fifteen years later, this is still my favorite bookmark. I keep it in books beside my bed.

Grandmothers

I started this piece thinking it would be a "quick stitch" that I could have completed in a couple weeks — in time for my adopted Grandmother's birthday on May 14th.

Wrong!

The center motif stitch up quickly, but then I got to the backstitching/blackwork vines in each corner and got stalled — for weeks! I'm not sure what it was about the lines that made them so difficult for me. I think it was because there were no good reference points for me to check my stitching against, and I kept making mistakes. That caused quite a bit of ripping and re-stitching. I ended up stitching one of the corners four times before I got the placing right.

This is an example of where taking a little time to grid the fabric beforehand would have saved a lot of stitching time, and even more frustration.

Live and learn. 

Once the vines were stitched, the flowers and beading went fairly smoothly. I love the way it turned out and was pleased to present it to her for her 90th birthday.