a warm fuzzy story...

I'm so excited to have a guest blogger today! Many of you may be familiar with the lovely stitching of Kristi, AKA Stitchy Stitcherson. I asked Kristi to share a story. And if you thought her stitching was amazing, wait until you read her story...



Embroidery gives me warm fuzzies.

I should rephrase that by saying that needlework, in all its forms, gives me warms fuzzies. I am particularly enchanted by cross stitch and embroidery.

My love affair with needlework began many years ago when I was a newlywed. I worked days, my husband worked nights, and I needed a way to fill the lonely evenings. In middle school, a friend had showed me the basics of cross stitch, but at the age of thirteen I was neither impressed nor interested. But as I perused the craft aisle at WalMart in search of a new craft, I found a small cross stitch kit that looked promising. Relying on my limited knowledge and the kit’s instructions, I managed to complete the small project and was quite proud of my work—mistakes and all.



I started to stitch whenever I had a free moment. Cross stitch was more than a hobby for me, it was a passion. I subscribed to cross stitch magazines, read cross stitch message boards, and searched the web for pictures of completed pieces. I always loved seeing what other people were stitching. I became a regular at my local needlework shop, and soon the owner knew me by my first name. Cross stitch made me happy.

Even after the birth of my first child, cross stitch was a large part of my life. Naptime was stitch time. Though I had less time for my craft, I still loved it with every fiber of my being.



Then something happened that changed me: my husband walked out on me and our baby. Alone with a five-month-old and scared out of my mind, I no longer had the passion to stitch. In fact, I hated it. I hated everything that had been part of my old life (with the exception of friends and family, of course), and I took the framed pieces I had lovingly stitched off the wall and hid them. I wanted nothing to do with the old me and the way things had used to be.

Well, fast-forward three years, and I was happily remarried with a four-month-old baby. I started to miss some of the things I had enjoyed in the past, especially needlework. I tried to cross stitch, but not only was it hard to find the time to do it, but it was a bit tedious. I craved something I could do quickly and for short periods of time. This was about the same time I discovered the wonderful world of Flickr, where I was introduced to something new: embroidery. Pictures of embroidered goodness abounded! Vintage patterns of dancing veggies, hip new patterns of dachshunds and gnomes…I was in love! I did a Google search of embroidery and realized that it was something I could do—in fact, it looked easy! And thanks to my years of cross stitching, I had built of a large supply of needles & floss. I was ready to give embroidery a try.





Today, two-and-a-half years after my discovery, I am hooked on embroidery. I love being able to take something as simple as a needle and thread and turn them into something both useful and aesthetically pleasing. I love to think of my great-grandmother adorning aprons with flowers made of floss as I stitch a sugar skull on muslin with glow-in-the-dark floss.





I also love the people I’ve met through embroidery. I love how cool and kind and generous people are when it comes to this craft. The support and encouragement I receive and witness online is amazing. People who love this craft are something special. We are all different, but we have one thread that connects us all: our love of the needle. And that definitely gives me warm fuzzies!

Thank you soooo much for sharing, Kristi! You can find more of Kristi's stitching (and her story!) on her blog or on flickr.