March 2020 Small Check In

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Date27 Mar 2020
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Comments9

In spite of all the upending of normal life these past few weeks I do have a few things to show you for the Smalls check in!

First I finished my Grandma’s Mill Hill Patchwork mitten. It just needs its backing felt.

I picked up a tiny little monogram fob project from La D Da…this is truly a small Small: just one initial and one little star. The fob was to go along with a scissor block which I do not have. Someone who had kept the block was giving away the fob kit and that’s how I got it. It doesn’t look like much-in fact I don’t even have a picture of it in time for the post-but it will sew up into a cute little heart.

And finally, my car’s oil line exploded last week. What a mess all over the driveway! Thankfully I had thought to stop at the mailbox on my way to the repair shop and my first Nashville order had arrived! I stitched up most of Gather Ye Rosebuds by The Purple Thread while waiting for my husband to come rescue me for what turned out to be an overnight repair job.. Gather Ye Rosebuds indeed! This is finished as a sweet little berry.

And what have you stitched this month? How many of you are finding more time to stitch…and how many have less? I think I am about the same even though we have so much less going on. I hope you will share your projects below! It is great to keep our stitching community across the miles going especially when our in-person communities are shut down!

The Pink Sparrow has a Sparrow on it

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Date22 Mar 2020
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Comments7

Most of my stitching this week has been on WTNT’s Pink Sparrow. It is just a very nice, easy piece to work on, I’ve found-lovely colors, good variety. The titular Pink Sparrow is in. He is not as pink as I thought, just that little spot on his head, but that’s ok. There is plenty of pink in this. I do not feel cheated of pink.

I think about the little girl or young woman who made this. We don’t know who that is since there is no name. I think she must have really enjoyed her stitching. There is pattern and repetition, but there are also many places where her symmetry is off or a motif really *should* be bumped over one stitch (now that will keep you on your toes as a modern stitcher!) But she didn’t sweat that small stuff. She kept in mind the big picture, the overall look on her design, and considered that little idiosyncrasies were not going to be so noticeable that she should waste time and materials by restitching whole sections to chase perfection. She must have been very mentally healthy!

In this time of great uncertainty, when there seems to be such unbelievable news every day and so much concern and even panic swirling around us, I think this is a good message to take from our stitching foremothers.

Have you seen the #bewellandstitch movement on Instagram? (Here is a lovely example from The Drawn Thread.) Many designers are making free charts for us, giving us something new to work on while we stay home, and urging us to purchase materials to make these designs in order to support our local shops which must close their doors to browsing customers to help fight the virus. At my own store, The Attic, you can place a “curbside pick up” order as well as a traditional phone in/mail order, and I think many other stores throughout the country too. I will be stopping by next week, because if we don’t support our local businesses, which this crisis is affecting terribly, they may not be there when we are allowed to venture freely in their shops again.

I hope you all out there, wherever you are, are healthy, and finding good ways to use your time! “Be Well and Stitch!”

March Gifted Gorgeousness

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Date15 Mar 2020
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Comments11

It is my birthday later this month, so it truly would be a shame for me to not include a Gifted Gorgeousness post this month!

I realize I never shared with you some very nice presents my husband gave me for Christmas! You may realize by now that I aspire to Adventurous Stitching. Now my eyes may be bigger than my needle at the moment given I am too busy raising kids to really settle down and spend those prime daylight hours learning something new, but I really do wish to expand my skills beyond cross stitching, my true first love! My dear husband is supporting that…at any rate, he is buying me good presents! Or maybe he thinks I’ve already met my lifetime supply of cross stitch kits!

Here are the kits he gave me for Christmas:

They are Millefiori Butterfly Brooch from Jenny Adin-Christie, the California Dogface Butterfly Stumpwork kit from Alison Cole, and Foxy from Becky Hogg.

Beautiful, aren’t they? Unfortunately, they all really need to be stitched on fabric held taut, in some kind of frame that allows for both hands to work. And I did not have such a frame so all I could do was LOOK at these gorgeous kits for the past 3 months. But last month someone on Facebook was selling a sit on frame and I snagged it! Now I could begin! Begin what? Well I’m going to start with Foxy. I have read through the directions of each and he seems the easiest. (Ha ha) Here is my first night of work, felt padding…

and the first couched threads.

Oh, so fancy and shiny! That alone is good motivation to work on this! But it is a lot harder than cross stitch or ribbon embroidery! It will take me a lot longer than I thought as this little bit, sewing the felt on and then the gold took a couple hours.

And here is my Sunday afternoon progress:

I don’t usually make time to stitch during the day but I made a big mistake on the gold on the fox’s back last night. I had to step away and sleep on it. Today I resolved to take it out and fix it, and I ended up going quite a bit beyond the fix to finish that step. I’m ready to begin the “plunging” which is how you take those loose ends of gold thread to the back. I hope to get it all “plunged” tonight and fill in the middle spiral.

Now if you want to see more Gifted Gorgeousness, head back to our dear friend Jo’s blog to see who else is linking up this month! Thanks for stopping by!

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Welcome to Mary’s Thread!

I started this blog in 2016 to chronicle my stitching life. My Grandma M. taught me to cross stitch when I was 7 and I’ve had a project (or many!) going since then. I am mostly a cross stitcher who makes forays into other types of embroidery. A lifetime ago I studied French and art history but now I fit my stitching around a busy life raising 5 young kids with my wonderful husband. Thank you for spending some time at my blog!

2020 Stitch-A-Longs

2020 Stitch-A-Longs

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