I started cross-stitching in the early 1990s. Continued till perhaps 1999, and then, life got in the way. In 2011, digging through storage, I found my old UFOs, my threads, my embroidery hoop, and yukky rusty needles. My old hobby rekindled, I made trips to the local craft shops to stock up on new threads and, of course, brand new needles. However, cross-stitching seemed to have become a dying craft in the new millennium in this part of the world. Fabric is hard to find, only in one or two shops. And they were too expensive. US$18 a yard? Are you kidding me?? (Um... US readers, do you pay $18 a yard for your cloth?)
Of course, the new millennium also gave us the wonders and convenience of Online Shopping. Get anything and everything you want anywhere, just pay the shipping costs! I found reasonably priced threads and aida fabric on ebay. And in my regular travels overseas, I discovered very good quality cross-stitch fabric at less than US$4 a yard. Yes, you heard me. Good quality aida - less than $4 a yard! I could get nearly FIVE yards for $18!
All these kick-started my passion and enthusiasm for cross-stitching again, in 2011. :) I also started looking for small designs to complete. I know HAED... yes they are beautiful. Yes, many are in love with it but I'd rather not go near those with a ten-foot pole. I need small designs, which can be turned into useful things! There's only so much wall space, and friends' houses' wall spaces may not always welcome these huge framed pieces.
Well, greeting cards are always in-style. Americans purchased 6.5 billion cards a year! Six and a half billion.... that's almost the entire world population in a year... so many cards making so many recipients super-happy! Bookmarks.. who says we don't read books any more?
Check out the unique, colorful cross-stitch gifts and see if you fall in love with these! Remember, buy at carousell or qoo10 if you're local, OR go to etsy if you're in 'the rest of the world'.
Showing posts with label Blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blog. Show all posts
Patience, patience...
Do you have a WIP or a UFO? A big one? Perhaps a HAED? :)
Cross-stitchers are a patient lot; we find solace and peace in our quiet little corners, quietly stitching square by square by square, until the whole picture is finally finished, months or years later. Except that... I cannot claim to be one of those very patient cross-stitchers myself. You see, I kinda like to see my finished work(s) within days. Or hours.
But, in the old old days, not knowing any better, I started a huge piece. Struggled for months. Added sweat and tears to the threads. One of my earliest finished piece is now hanging in my living room. Here it is!
Completed in the early 1990s, I think it took me a year and a half to finish and frame. After that, STILL not knowing any better, I started on another big piece, and it became a UFO. One day, more than a decade later, I fished it out of storage to find spots on the cloth... nope, it would never be finished. Sobs... what a waste! New plan... find something new to sew! And sew..., and so, I found another great design and started stitching with a vengeance in 2011... 3 years on, yup, it' still another half-baked UFO. What a depressing post this is, you say.
Patience, patience... but surely, cross-stitch ought to be easier??!
Cross-stitchers are a patient lot; we find solace and peace in our quiet little corners, quietly stitching square by square by square, until the whole picture is finally finished, months or years later. Except that... I cannot claim to be one of those very patient cross-stitchers myself. You see, I kinda like to see my finished work(s) within days. Or hours.
But, in the old old days, not knowing any better, I started a huge piece. Struggled for months. Added sweat and tears to the threads. One of my earliest finished piece is now hanging in my living room. Here it is!
Completed in the early 1990s, I think it took me a year and a half to finish and frame. After that, STILL not knowing any better, I started on another big piece, and it became a UFO. One day, more than a decade later, I fished it out of storage to find spots on the cloth... nope, it would never be finished. Sobs... what a waste! New plan... find something new to sew! And sew..., and so, I found another great design and started stitching with a vengeance in 2011... 3 years on, yup, it' still another half-baked UFO. What a depressing post this is, you say.
Patience, patience... but surely, cross-stitch ought to be easier??!
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