And now I'm going to speak my piece about big projects. A friend of mine and I were talking today about needlework, and she asked if I supposed stitchers were going to head back towards more substantial pieces. For the last several years, the really big sellers, for me anyway, have been quick and little projects incorporating unusual fibers or fabrics.
I never really got too caught up in that fad (I'm usually about five years behind ANYTHING popular, it seems.) My UFO's and current projects include almost exclusively what I'd call "big projects." Right now, they are: a Maureen Appleton Silk Gauze piece, a Maureen Appleton over-one sampler (English Garden), With My Needle by Goode Huswife, a Curtis Boehringer Angel Afghan (12 months of the year -- seven completed), Checkerboard Sheep by Shepherd's Bush (over-two on 44 count linen), and an enormous Marjolien Bastien piece (Four Seasons) done on 36 ct. Edinburgh linen. Ack! Why did I write all of that down?
I love big projects! They're the "Wow! That is amazing!" projects. The ones you can hang on your wall forever, and never get tired of. The ones that you show off. You start them so excited, get frustrated with them somewhere in the middle, put in late nights working on them, and smile at them lovingly after executing the final stitch. These are the projects worthy of "covet," and "ooh," and "aah."
Usually, the problem stitchers have with big projects is, "Oh, that's too hard for me." Really, I tell people, if you can make an "X" and count to about 20, you can cross stitch just about anything.
Most designers have come out with at least a few of these larger pieces. Some design almost exclusively in "big": Lavender and Lace, Mirabilia, Donna Vermillion-Giampa, Teresa Wentzler, The Scarlet Letter, Indigo Rose, Lanarte. Leisure Arts has a lot of really lovely large pieces, and if you're like me, and you have several of the Mary Engelbreit cross stitch books (a new Christmas one just came out this fall), you have some pretty darn cute large projects waiting.
Here's what else I love about big projects:
Materials usually aren't too expensive, if you have a collection of floss. You'll buy a little bit bigger piece of fabric, and the chart may be a few dollars more. But floss is cheap. (Think about how much time it takes you to stitch all six ply of an 8-meter length of floss, and divide by the price -- what cheap entertainment!) It will take me much longer to stitch something big and more complex than something small -- I feel like it's more bang for the buck.
Also, framing isn't really much more, comparatively. Your materials will be a big bigger, but when you remember that you'll probably like the piece longer than something cute and trendy, and remember that you spent the equivalent of eight or ten small projects worth of time on it, what a bargain.
You have to be patient to execute one of the big projects. There isn't a lot of instant gratification in one of these. You need to learn to revel in the small victories (my Not So Secret Stitcher, a Mirabilia fan, will e-mail saying: "I finished the queen's head today!" That's what I mean!) What wonderful work on the psyche to practice true patience.
I've just re-read an article I wrote for my newsletter back in 1998 called ""Why do we stitch?". I think it was really one of the better written pieces I've come up with, and I hope you see yourself, just a little bit, in the words. Maybe you'll feel inspired enough to start a biggie.
Blessings, bounty, peace and love to you and yours in 2002.
© 2007 Theresa Venette. Articles on this site may be reproduced in needlework group newsletters or other handouts with permission of author and proper attribution. Send questions, comments and suggestions to: xspeddler@yahoo.com