I had the notion to try something new since I've been so unmotivated to work on my latest quilt for months, and I was inspired by my friend Jen to try cross-stitching. I got this little kit based on Mary Engelbreit art and thought it was so cute. I've been working on it for quite a while now, maybe two weeks. The photo below is actually of my second attempt because I had to scrap my first attempt due to my apparent inability to read directions. Ha. It was a comedy of errors; first - I didn't know I was supposed to divide the threads up, so I was using a whole group of whatever it is, nine threads or something like that to do each stitch (which actually resulted in a look I think I like better for the letters - it's more solid - but still wrong.) I also didn't divide the colors so I stitched a rather large section in "rust" that should have been "dark orange". I finally scrapped the project and just started over. It was so much easier to divide and label all the different thread colors first, because then - even if I labeled them incorrectly - I was being consistent with my mistake, and also because at 11:30 at night, light pink, light blue and white all started to look REALLY similar.
Anyway, now I'm at a loss as to what to do with this finished piece. With quilting you get a nice quilt to put on a bed, or over the couch when you're done. With sewing aprons, you get an apron. I'm not quite sure what to do with this one, but I'm thinking maybe I'll frame it and put it up somewhere. Even if it's not perfect, I'm really proud of all the work I put into it.
I am, however, a little disappointed with some of the built-in design elements. I didn't do the french knots it suggested because I wasn't really happy with the rust colored stitching it directed me to do over the bonnet. I felt like it just made it look so busy, and the french knots would just add to that chaos. I'm actually thinking about taking the rust bonnet stitches out. If I ever do another one with letters in it, I think I may use more strands of thread, also, because I'd like the letters to be more solid.
