My First Fiber Art

Embroidery was my first fiber art passion. These appliance covers were my first embroidery project. It was the late sixties when I began the mixer and toaster cover which I believe were for my parent's anniversary. I was eleven when I started them and am sure they took me at least a year. They use only the outline stitch.

I went on from them to a marriage record sampler and then a birth record sampler. Both were at first intended for my own hope chest but I ended up giving them as gifts. The two samplers introduced me to many more stitches: satin, daisy, chain, back stitch, french knot, cross stitch.

Though I crocheted two afghans and began a pair of knitted slippers for a home ec class my Senior year of high school in the mid seventies, embroidery remained my passion until my early thirties in the late eighties when I discovered needlepoint which I stuck with until 2001 when I shifted to counted cross stitch.

Since 2009 I've been nursing an obsession on crochet but I feel my fingers itching for the needle again. Not sure whether for embroidery, cross stitch or needle point. But I do have several needlework projects to finish so I won't be starting any new large projects until those are finished. I may scratch the itch by trying out a few of the needlework bookmark concepts I've had in mind for some time. I think I can justify a few small projects like that while I work at finishing up the two needlepoint book covers and the two large counted cross stitch projects.

I received a lot of praise at the time for keeping a clean backside when working these. Many adults seemed amazed that they were my first and that at my age I was taking such care. Maybe due to this recognition but more likely just due to my perfectionist tendencies, I still take care to keep a clean backside. In these I was using knots to end thread but when working the sampler kits I learned that was not the correct practice and I learned how to secure and hide both the beginning and end of threads without knots.

I found the toaster cover in the kitchen towel drawer and my sister located the mixer cover in the laundry room in the 'to be ironed' pile where it's probably been for half a decade as I don't think Mom did much if any ironing after my dad's diagnosis in 2004. I'm a bit embarrassed that I took these pics without ironing them first. But I'm running out of time to finish the bridal and wedding gifts for my niece and the wedding is tomorrow. 18 hours actually.