Rekindling an old passion

This weekend, Kace had a big ol' seminary test to take that required additional (and unexpected) hours of study. I was left with not much to occupy my time. We took a couple of "study breaks", ie; getting food at Chick-Fil-A, meeting with a dude, and taking a walk, but I needed something once the evening hours dawned.

So, I started rummaging around for something to occupy my hands ...

... and after about a 9 year hiatus, I picked up an unfinished counted cross-stitch project.

Once again, I'm hooked. I can't put it down. I sewed All.Weekend.Long. Every spare moment I got, I rushed over to where I'd laid my project down and sewed like mad.

I used to LOVE to cross-stitch. Seriously and hard-core love it. I was obsessed. My mom wanted me to learn to sew for real when I was younger, instead of spending all my time cross-stitching, telling me "Megan, you can't clothe your future family in cross-stitch pictures!" Sheesh. Such narrow-mindedness. :)

I even made this picture for my sister when I was younger. I gave it to her for a birthday present one year (can't remember which one though). Then that summer, when the Fair rolled around, I took it back from her to enter it into the Hendricks County 4-H Fair ... where it was promptly stolen from the fairgrounds on the final day. I wrote this sob letter to the editor of the county paper, appealing to the scoundrel who stole it (like c'mon, who'd steal a cross-stitch anyway? And from the County Fair? That's just low.) that out of some measure of the goodness in their hard-hearted heart, they should return it to the rightful owner. The letter got printed, obviously - what editor's going to turn down a letter like that from a kid?, and lo and behold, about 3 weeks later a strange package showed up on our front steps and it was the picture, unharmed and sent anonymously.

Oh the power of the written word ... especially from a desperate 14 year old.

So, back to my original story .... Yeah ... I can't stop the fire that's burning in my heart for this old love. Haven't got a clue what I'll do with it when I'm done. I remember saying that I was going to give it to a friend when she got married since the picture is about a bride, thinking at that time I'd have no problem getting it done ... well, she's now the mother of 5 and has been married forever. And here I am, not really wanting to own another counted cross-stitch picture to put in my home [my sweet husband won't even let me hang this one in our apartment that I made back in the good ol' days --- I SAID I liked cross-stitching!] and yet I can't put this down for another 10 year break.

It just isn't right.

So, if you are feeling like you need a counted cross-stitch in your home anytime in the distant future, let me know and perhaps you too can be the recipient of a finished product of my handiwork.

I do promise that I won't ask for it back to submit as an entry in the County Fair.

They won't let me join anyway. I'm past the age limit.