Stitched With Love...

Back in 1990, I stitched this intricate cross stitch (of which I need glasses to read now) for my now deceased mother-in-law. I wanted to do something for her with all the grandkids names and birthdays on it. I was fairly certain at the time there would be no more, so I was safe to proceed.




This is done on aida cloth and I don't remember the count, but it's the tiniest before you reach linen. I would love to do something on linen, but I know I'd go blind and no pair of readers could help out of that mess. It's a creamy background with beautiful shades of pink, green, blue, lavender, and yellow. The 10 grandkids are in chronological...youngest to oldest from left to right. I guess you can tell that by the dates, but not sure they show up in the pics. I signed it down in the corner...how the heck did I manage that?

I love the wooden frame, but back then I wasn't as creative as I am now. I have evolved, as some may of us have. It's a natural progression. I took the finished piece and just stretch it over a piece of matboard and some stuffing. Glued it on and then glued it to the mat opening. The problem was it didn't quite fit, but I knew mom would love it unconditionally. And she did.



In 1995, she passed away from lung cancer and so the stitchery was given back to me. I greatly appreciated it since I had put so much love and time into it. Somehow it got lost in a box somewhere with other treasures(I know...hard to believe)and I just came upon it a few weeks ago. It warmed my heart to see it, but that gap around the the mat and the stitchery made me NUTS! I couldn't believe I could do that being the perfectionist I am...or thought I was. So, I dug through my big glass candy jar of ribbon and found this luscious pale green ribbon with just the right curl to it. Out came the got glue gun and "viola" problem fixed. I must say, I am very happy with the results.







My only decision is where shall I display it now?