Tuesday 25 September 2012

Welcome to my first post!

It's quite appropriate that my first post on my blog is sharing my love of Cross Stitch.  I was first introduced to Cross Stitch by my Husband Jeff in the early 80's as a young wife and Mom to be, stationed at Edwards AFB in California.  I was a new bride, expecting our first child, away from my family for the first time in my life as Jeff was in the Air Force stationed at Edwards AFB, and our families were in Washington State.  Jeff realized I needed something to fill my time with, and bless his heart, he stopped off at the local craft shop one day after his shift, and purchased a Cross Stitch kit for me to learn with!
Over the years I have literally stitched and framed HUNDREDS of samplers.  Wedding, Baby and "Bless our Home"  theme's are the most frequently sewn projects I do for friends and family.  I collect antique reproduction and vintage looking patterns, as I find them the most appealing.  I will post pictures of my collection that I have hanging at my house one day.  Until then, this is my most currently finished project.  
I started this project while Jeff was going through chemotherapy treatments for colon cancer in 1999-2000.  Sadly, my sweet Jeff lost his battle.  Being widowed with 6 children ages 6-15, my life became quite a bit more complicated and topsy turvy for several years. I missed my old life, and the joy that stitching gave me.  It took me several years of struggling to be able to relax enough to concentrate and and get back into it.  I was inspired to sew a family sampler for my bestest of best friends... and once I had completed that, I was strong enough to face the sampler I had started when my dear Jeff was sick.  This sampler was finished in 2011 and is signed with both my old initials and start date, and my new married initial and finish date as well.  Usually a project like this one would take me a month or so to complete, but this one spanned a decade.  It was a really fun pattern, and can be found in an old issue of Cross Stitch and Country Crafts magazine, and a hard bound book of sampler patterns published by Better Homes and Gardens Country Crafts.