Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Working the Needle

What does it mean to be a needleworker?

Does that mean you only stitch with the best linen and finest silks?

Does it mean you are any less of a needleworker when you use aida and floss from big bulk generic packages?

Does it mean you go the extra mile and design your own patterns? That each fabric and thread creation from your hoop is a one of a kind? Do you burn the pattern when finished so there's sure to be none other like it?

Does it mean you buy a chart but claim it for your own by changing the fabric, choosing different floss, rearranging what ever on the pattern?

Does it mean you buy a kit and stitch it just as the designer intended?

Does it mean you stitch art converted to cross stitch? Does that make you a less traditional kind of needleworker?

What is tradition where needle and thread are concerned?

What is the connecting thread between all of us who pick up a needle, thread, fabric, a hoop? What has made us seek out this most pleasant of pass times? What is it that makes our fingers itch to make little Xs on fabric?

2 comments:

Jeanne said...

Well I don't know the answers except we love it! Isn't it odd when non-stitchers ask you how you have the patience to do cross-stitch?

Nancy M said...

Answers to most are NO, and I do it for the creative outlet, the stress relief and the satisfaction of the final product.