Wednesday, September 19, 2012

My Cross-Stitch Confession!


Have you ever been talking to a friend and they mention how unreal it is that some people collect more cross stitch kits and patterns than they could possibly complete in a lifetime?  Well, I have.  And it certainly got me thinking.  Could I possibly be one of these people?  

Amidst the conversation I was having with my friend I secretly bantered back and forth within my own head trying to rationalise why I would not be classed as one of these people.  Surely I do not have THAT many unfinished projects in my stash....  Could it be that I would NEVER touch some of these for as long as I live???  As not to be put in the spotlight amongst friends I smiled and agreed that it was nuts to collect so many but on the inside I was feeling somewhat guilty :S

That night when I went home I stood in front of my treasure chest containing my craft collection, racking my brain trying to remember just what exactly I had in there and of how much!  Hmm, it has been a while since I finished a cross-stitch design let alone opened this chest to see what other designs were awaiting my attention.

With a bit of hesitation I began to open the chest and trawl through my stash, all the while saying to myself “I do not seriously have more than I could ever complete” over and over again.  One by one I emptied the chest and lay the cross stitch kits and patterns on the floor.  One, two, three....nine, ten, eleven...fifteen kits and three patterns!!!  Oh boy.  I was overcome with sudden laughter followed shortly after by a sinking feeling in my gut that I may have been a little rash in my cross-stitch purchasing over the years...  Who could blame me though right?

Well, I said to myself, staring at the kits spread out over the floor.  “These few here are quite small, you could get these done in no time over the next few years.  And as for the other large ones, well I’m sure it’s possible to do them all eventually, let’s not give up hope that your life span will end before picking them up for stitching!  After all, cross-stitch kits can make wonderful presents also so all is not lost if you personally don’t stitch them.  And you never know you may have a daughter one day that is inspired to learn cross-stitch and you already have some beautiful kits available for her to choose from if she so wishes.  Phew, that is true”.  By this point I am feeling quite relieved.

But wait!  What about if I see another kit I absolutely adore and must get...   And the saga goes on!

Does anyone else have a similar experience or am I alone in the cross stitch kit collecting phenomenon?  Would love to hear your story :)

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Santa cross-stitch

Hello fellow bloggers! What a year it has been so far. Have been busy working plus took on extra study (to do in my "spare time") in order to benefit my current position at work. So I have now successfully completed a Certificate 4 in Accounting. It was well worth doing but quite time consuming which meant my hobbies had to be set aside for a while. But now that my course is finished I can get stuck back into my favourite pass times again :)

I have managed to make a fair bit of progress on Santa since my last update. Check him out:

Am currently working on the bottom left hand side of the window frame, which is a smaller section than the above framed panels which is exciting. Looking at the pattern there doesn't seem to be too much back-stitch so I should be well on the way to finishing this gorgeous design :) 

I actually found this Dimensions Kit available for sale at Everything Cross Stitch, they have a large range of beautiful cross stitch kits which I must admit I have been admiring lately.  If you were interested in creating this design keep in mind the cross stitch threads supplied with the kit did not seem to be enough, I have had to buy more of every colour! I have checked back at the instructions a number of times to see if I have misread and unknowingly used too much thread but I don't think I have... Anyway, after numerous trips to the local craft store I have managed to match the colours to those in the kit, at least as close a match as possible. I'm not too concerned if the thread colours are not an exact match as there is a lot of colour blending in this design so it will not be too noticeable if the colours are slightly different :)