Technically, I guess this is an "embroidery floss" project and not thread. But the good news is I'm the judge and I call fair ball. This adventure is about pushing my own boundaries and trying different craft projects, NOT about getting docked for technical merit. ;)
So far, this project has taken me the longest to finish of all the materials. Something that I really enjoy about longer term projects is how when I think about making them, I can remember exactly what was going on in my life and what I was watching on TV as I worked. My first quilt was when I really started watching Arrested Development on a loop. My second quilt was when I got hooked on Friday Night Lights shortly after Paul left last fall. My knit blanket was that last looong month waiting for Paul to get home when I raced through six seasons of How I Met Your Mother. And this piece will always remind me of the summer 2012 Olympics. I measure the passing of time in television and craft projects, clearly.
This is a true "Elise project" too. Black and white, fairly simple, and more than a few errors. Cross-stitch is not tricky, but it is hard to get perfect. You amazing cross-stitchers out there would be terrified if you saw the tangled mess that is the back of my fabric. I sent a photo to my mom (who's neat backs would win gold medals) and she laughed out loud.
There are many super simple tutorials online for how to cross-stitch. You can absolutely purchase cross-stitch patterns. I am sure you can purchase letter patterns. And in fact, there is probably an app for making your own patterns. But I just sketched my basic plan on graph paper and then dove in with black.
When I stand back, there are definitely points on the letters that I would prefer thicker or thinner, but overall, I am happy with it. I added the black border once I had them done and then made the choice to fill in the whole thing with white. (I contemplated a color at first but thankfully remembered only black and white stands the test of time around here.) It took forever (two weeks) to fill in and was so boring compared to the interesting letter design. But it works and makes the letters seem more significant I think.
So, thread! Rad! I'm calling you complete.
This is project 12 of 27. I am attempting to complete 27 craft projects using 27 different materials before I turn 28 on 02.22.13. You can follow my progress here on the blog or on pinterest. Birthday challenges are my favorite. You can see the 26 Projects I completed while 26 here and the 27 materials I have used so far here.
