SpiderPsalms

Gallery ~.~.~.~.~ I'm a multiple-project-at-one-time kind of person. So as 2009 closes, I see 1/3 of a floral cross stitch design in one embroidery frame, maybe 1/5 of a freehand embroidery project in my blue plastic hoop, eight designs and plans in my sketchbook, and a blank swatch of cloth in my largest scroll frame awaiting whatever inspiration I can derive from this cool tome I found in a used bookstore in Idaho last month: Erica Wilson's Embroidery Book. And dare I mention my lovely fabric remnants collection peering down at me from the shelf above my desk? I can sense the longing of the scraps to manifest themselves as plushies, pill

Let's see now. I have completed a grand total of three cross stitch projects to date and am currently half-way through a fourth. It takes me a long time to crank these things out! I have yet to decide what technique works best for me. There's placing stitches row by row, or by color, or by pre-marked sections (either grid-based, or design-based). No matter what I do, when I'm working from a pattern, I always miscount a bunch of stitches. I'm getting good at adapting designs to hide my errors, ha ha. I blame this all-too-regular occurrence on my propensity for getting lost. I have zero sense of direction. The two problems must be related. ~

I'm a writer by trade, and sometimes a teacher, sometimes a chef, and occassionaly a preacher. So my days are full of creative pursuits. But sometimes a body just needs to enjoy the process of making something tangible. I've played with painting, doodled with drawing, tinkered with digital art and photography. I've made moderately interesting stuff with clays and polymer clays. I've discovered that I have no eye whatsoever for collage. In the end, I seem to be settling into needlework as my best artistic niche. I am very new to cross stitch and embroidery, but I find this is the art and the craft I most enjoy. Perhaps it is the slow, meticul