You might be wondering where I’ve been. Well, in addition to traveling a lot last month, I have been dusting off my needles and surfing lots of craft sites. It must be autumn because I’ve come down with the crafting bug.
The cross stitch bookmark above represents the first cross-stitching I’ve done in decades, since I was in Calvinettes as a grade schooler (sort of like a Christian Reformed Girl Scout). I decided that I like cross stitching and embroidery because it’s something I can take on the road with me and work on while DH watches TV at night.
For a brief moment in time I thought I’d pick up crocheting or knitting, but that was a fleeting thought. Being left handed is not an advantage when trying to learn.
And then, of course, there are my sewing machine and serger sitting down in the basement. I got it into my head that the reason I haven’t been sewing is because the machines are way in the damp dark basement and not upstairs where the light and the rest of civilization is. So most recently I’ve been sidetracked into figuring out how to turn the living room upstairs that we recently turned into a dining room into a combination craft/dining room.
One of my best friends recently asked me if I ever keep at one of my hobbies long enough to master it. I said no, but that really isn’t the point.
There’s something relaxing about being creative; about picking up the needle and feeling the fabric. Imagining what could be. I think that’s why I have such a fabric stash–some of the fabric is so pretty that I can’t bear to cut into it. It has so much potential. I have a nice piece that I’ve had for two years now that would make either a gorgeous dress or skirt and top or wrap skirt. I just can’t commit!
Luckily I have a few months of light travel ahead, so I should be able to get back into the kitchen and actually complete some of these crafts that I’ve been dreaming of.
Pinterest has become my new addiction. If you’re interested in seeing what I’m pinning,
and, if you have any favorite sites for fast craft ideas, let me know!
I used to cross stitch too, but haven’t since becoming a mom. I would love to get into it again, but right now having sharp needles laying around the house isn’t a good idea with a 2 yr old and a 4 yr old who get into everything. Looking forward to picking it up again in a few years though.
This makes me grin ear to ear in recognition – SO many pieces of too-beautiful-too-cut fabric! Of course 15 years of pretty much sewing 10 hours a day/four days a week (I translated customer snippets of this and that into appliqued flags and designed/sewed flags for store stock at a local flag store) seriously dampened any desire to sit at my sewing table to complete envisioned home sewing projects… One advantage of a “stash” is a built-in variety of backdrops for food photos! If the magazine photog wanted something in a different color or texture, I could often just “shop” my sewing room! If you think about it, a tight shot doesn’t really require a whole lot of fabric…
I haven’t done cross stitch for years.. heaps of them. I like Pinterest too. 🙂 addictive for sure.