Of course, that is not a question anyone should answer! 🙂
My first cross stitch piece was started almost exactly a year ago. I need to get a better picture of it. Maybe I’ll do that this weekend.
You’ve seen it a million times. I started it on January 13, 2021. I had no idea what I was doing. I couldn’t figure out how to count spaces. The linen was not great quality. It was 32 count and I was using two threads. Right off the bat, I used the wrong color so I had to adjust all the other colors. Some of the rows aren’t even straight because I could not for the life of me figure out how to follow that line of thread. My friends, Judy and Donna, helped me so much in the beginning. You would think . . make an x on the fabric and be done with it but it just wasn’t that simple. So, thank you, Judy and Donna. I’m not sure either of you know how much you helped me get back on track with my stitching and maintain my sanity during the time I was here in MO by myself.
Thankfully some of the problems I was having, some of which seemed insurmountable in the beginning, have resolved themselves. I can now count spaces between one thing and the next. I seem to do a better job of staying on a straight line though I’m sure as soon as I say that, I’m going to mess up. Lucky for me, I have not come across any linen that behaved as badly as this piece did.
As I was stitching tonight, I looked at my work and this is probably the first piece that looks almost perfect.
I’m sure it isn’t going to look perfect to some but for me, I think it’s the best stitching I’ve done yet. Did it take me a year to finally get it all figured out? Is it just a combination of the linen and thread and not my stitching that makes it look so good? I really am taking my time and trying to make things as perfect as I can make them.
Time will tell .. right now I need to stop admiring my work and get back to stitching! 🙂
justquiltin says
Love that berry basket.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
That’s the first berry basket I ever stitched!
Cindy F says
I would be proud of that stitching too! It looks great!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Thank you. I’ve stitched with several different silk threads but for my stitching, none of the others compare to the Victoria Clayton silks. She says her silks are made from “long staple” or long fibers or something like that. Not sure if the others are or not but hers definitely seems to work better for me.
JackiesStitches says
A Good Marriage sounds like it was a good first linen project for you! The words are not on a straight line so if you got off a bit, it can’t be noticeable! The same with the thread colors – I wouldn’t call it “wrong” at all! Personalized or design element is what I go with!
I’ve stitched And Heaven and Nature Sing and I really enjoyed it. The wreath looks fantastic. I outlined the deer/stag which quickly got all the counting over with and then you’re left with a lot of mindless stitching.
Nelle Coursey says
You did a fantastic job and I see nothing wrong with the first one! I think you did a good job on it. If you don’t point out any mistakes, no one will know!!
Pamela says
What stitching advice did you get? I think all of your projects look like they have lovely stitching. I just stitched a freebie on an old piece of aida I had. I used 2 strands of floss. I notice the stitches don’t all look nice. I am now working on black even weave of some sort. (black is awful) and it is difficult to get the stitches to look the same and be pretty. As someone who is trying this again after over 20 years of not doing cross stitch, I need all the help I can get.