Why Do You Stitch?

It's early on a summer Monday morning. MJ's left for work and I've got two little sleepy heads still in their beds. Ahh...the sound of quiet. That's kind of rare during the summer, so I thought I would enjoy it for a minute and then go about my day.

Recently I was reading one of the message boards that I frequent and one of the other members asked this question: What is stitching for you? I have been asked that questions so many times. We were visiting MJ's brother ands his wife once a few years ago. Our kids were small at the time and still taking naps and while they were sleeping I pulled out my stitching. My SIL was sitting on the couch talking to me and she asked me, "Why do you do this? I mean, what's the point?" MIL keeps asking me why I keep buying stash and that I"ll never live long enough to work on it all.

Oh, that answer can be long and it will be different each time I get asked the question. For me, my stitching is a hobby, or maybe I should call it an obsession. Whenever we take a trip I make sure I pack all of the essentials: my toothbrush, change of undies, and my stitching. Hey, you never know what I may have an hour that I can fill with my stitching. I can't draw or paint. I don't play an instrument. I can sing, but my family is getting a little tired of hearing me doing that while I vacuum the house. Really, I'm not artistic in any way. This is my opportunity to be creative. Sometimes I'll see a color of fabric and I'll know exactly what it's screaming at me for. It could be a leaflet that I bought ages ago and forgot about, but I will remember it when I find exactly what it needs. Michelangelo would search for weeks, even months, to find the perfect piece of marble when he was starting a sculpture. He used to say that the sculpture was alive and breathing in the block of marble and that it was his job to free it for everyone to see. I feel that way sometimes. Obviously not on the scale of Michelangelo, but I know that feeling of knowing what needs to be put on a piece of fabric or of knowing exactly how I envision a finished piece should be finished. Now I can guarantee that my SIL and MIL, who have no hobbies, don't understand this at all. I know that stitchers will.

Some people argue that I'm really not being creative and that I'm just copying what someone else has already designed and perfected. Well, I don't buy that for a minute. For example, look at that little sampler by BBD that so many people worked on for the contest they were running. Yes, the ladies of BBD designed it, but did any of the ones that were stitched look alike? There was such a variety of floss colors and fabric choices. I loved to look at them when they posted them on their blog. Talk about creativity!

On a stitching note, the first page of HAED is done! Woo hoo! Now, instead of a blue blob, it looks like a blue rectangle and I suppose you could call moving from a looking like a blob to a rectangle is progress. The second page, which I started over the weekend, has part of a panda head on it, which is the part that I'm working on now. I have a small part of the head, and part of an ear going. Pictures will follow soon!

The nest two weeks are going to be hectic ones. My future SIL's bridal shower is coming up and there is alot to do. This week's job it make a wishing well for the shower. My MIL and I were brainstorming all weekend and I now have all of the materials sitting in a large box in my bedroom, all ready to put together. We are all hoping that she is going to be surprised. We worked so hard to keep it a secret and I'm hoping that it stays that way until the moment we all yell, "SURPRISE!!" I love that moment!

I have looked back on some of my previous posts and it's looking like everything that I write is all run together. I'm not sure why it's not putting in the spaces between the paragraphs that I'm leaving. If my blog is hard to read, I'm sorry. I'm trying to figure out what to do about it.