Once upon a time I had an aunt who would make me quilts if I bought her the fabric. Then one day, I made a request and she decided to barter, “I’ll make those quilts for you, if you finish a cross stitch for me”. Seems fair right?
Little did I know this cross stitch would haunt me for years…yes I said years. I took the project home, not really knowing what I had gotten myself into. First off, it’s the biggest pattern I’ve ever done, finished size is 20.6″ x 21.5″ or 442.9 square inches! And to top it off, 442.9 square inches of black fabric! Also a first….and a last time I use black cross stitch fabric! I totally blame my failing eyesight on this, not advancing age or a daily dose of 8 hours on a computer. So I would do a little, get frustrated, then put it away for a while. That’s the way I rolled for , I-don’t-know…3-4 years, maybe 5-6, but who’s counting! Once we moved here in October, I decided this relationship must end, enough is enough! The relationship with the cross stitch, not my aunt, although I did avoid her at times so she couldn’t ask me how it was going. Standard answer, “it’s getting there”, said through clenched jaw smile. I worked on it at least every other night from October- March. Finished it March 19th, Happy Birthmonth to me! No, I didn’t mark it on the calendar(although I should have), I just know because that is the date I sent this text to my Aunt:
So, what does this have to do with quilting you might ask? Remember we bartered? Took her about 4 weeks to complete those throw sized quilts (yes 2) and get them to me. 5 years vs 4 weeks, I definitely drew the short stick. It was a no-brainer that I just needed to learn how to quilt, no more quilt-cross stitch barters for this girl. My handicap with quilting…I didn’t know how to sew a straight line. But even starting at the point of no knowledge, I still made roughly 8 quilts during the time that cross stitch was lurking in the shadows. And I think all but 1 held up through the first washing…sorry about that mom.
The finished project is beautiful and my aunt said she was going to get it framed and enter it in the county fair. Maybe it’ll win, maybe not. All I know is, it better come back to me in the will 😉