Stitch til you Twitch

So I went a little crazy.

It all started the day I stumbled across this on Pintrest

Does it make your heart flutter when you look at it? It does mine! At first I thought it was done on pegboard but after visiting the site, I found out it was a rug made by an artist and cross stitched on wool padding. It's also horrifically expensive, at least for my budget.

That didn't stop me from loving it however.

Fast forward a few months and we are cleaning out my grandma's house to get it ready to sell. My grandpa, who has been gone for 15 years, was a cabinet maker, and while we were working in his barn/shop out behind the house, I found this piece of peg board and I knew instantly what I wanted to do with it.

I dry brushed it with some mis-tint paint from the hardware store to make it look like linen, then got to work. The entire family worked on this project. I would sit in front of the board putting the needle through, then my helper in the back of the board would push the needle back through the hole that I indicated with my finger.

I feel pretty impressed that all three of my teenage boys took time to help me with this, and even my husband. I have great men in my life!

The only problem? It's huge. 4'X5' and I can't figure out what I'm going to do with it now. I sure do love it though! The neatest thing about it is how it changes depending on what angle you view it from. If you catch it from the side it's very saturated and vibrant. As you move around to the front, it's more washed out and water colorish. Give peg board cross stitch a try, it's so much fun, I am trying to figure out where I could possibly hang another one =0P

Cross Stitch? Really?

I have a love of all things handwork. I have since I was a little girl and my grandma first taught me to cross stitch.

I just love to sit in a chair and stitch but the downside to that is that you can only have so many cute little pillows and wall hangings in your house, and your family eventually gets tired of getting one of your projects for every! single! holiday!

So, it's been a few years since I sat down with needle and thread (Unless you count my never ending love affair with hexies).

Just recently though, I have had a resurgence of desire to cross stitch. I am rather ambiguous about cross stitch. Part of me thinks "Oh, that's so tacky!" because I have a distaste for anything that was popular in the 80's =0P and the other part of me loves those quiet moments with needle and thread, watching with anticipation as the design emerges from the cloth.

Tacky or not, I am hooked again.

I've been making little rose themed projects to hang in the little closet that holds the commode in my bathroom. Starting with this ring of roses (Which was originally begun as an area rug for the bedroom in my doll house but was reassigned to the bathroom wall when I realized it was a lot more work than I originally thought!)

 

Then I wanted to try my hand at a crocheted hoop like one I had seen on Pintrest. This little bitty is only 3"!

I started looking on Pintrest for more rose themed designs and changing thread colors so that they would all coordinate. I found this Victorian Alphabet and thought our family Monogram would be fun.

Unfortunately, my little doggie decided to go digging in my stitching bag and thought this would make a tasty treat. Luckily she didn't damage the cloth or the stitches, but you can see where the color bled from the blossom on the top left =0(

This all led me to my most recent project. One I am absolutely THRILLED about and can't wait to share with you! It's one of those things that I love so much I just keep wandering over to stare at it.

So...I don't care if it's tacky, My name is Jeanette, and I'm a Cross Stitcher! Keep your eyes out, I am going to post my most recent finish soon!