how did you start?

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fccs
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Re: how did you start?

Post by fccs »

loucee wrote:My kids all learned to stitch when they were five years old and even though they don't go back to it regularly it's always another skill they have under their belts ready for the day they realise stitching keeps you sane!
That it does!
MelindaH wrote:Sadly, my sister never took to it. She gave it another try a few years ago, but she claims to not have the patience for it.
I'm not a patient person by nature, but my stitching is an exception.
Debby

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Angel of Love
Book of Mythical Creatures
Cache la Poudre
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stitch_me
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Re: how did you start?

Post by stitch_me »

My mother stitches and she taught me when I was around 13 or 14 I think. My first works were frog pictures that I gave to family members as gifts. A few years ago she gave me three that I did that she found in storage. Their pictures are in the link in my signature. After those initial frogs I didnt stitch for the next 15 years; I finally took back to the hobby in 2011 while my husband was on his 2nd deployment in Afghanistan. It definitely helped pass the time.

I have taught both our young daughters to xstitch and they do small projects on occasion.
Crossing Stitches (my cross stitch work)

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Kinkade Disney Dreams, Bambi's First Year 12x16 on 18 ct aida
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beeeeeeeeth
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Re: how did you start?

Post by beeeeeeeeth »

My mum has always been into crafts and always taught us that homemade is best! I always loved her cross stitches and she taught me how to stitch when I was about 8. My first finished piece was a little pair of wellies with a robin perched on top for my Granny, who put it on the mantelpiece with her 'specials'. :)
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roo_bear
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Re: how did you start?

Post by roo_bear »

I always did a little bit as kid would help with my mums and was always interested in the ones on walls that she had done when I was very young. I lost interest as i got a bit older. Then after uni while i was unemployed and bored out of my mine my parents went on holiday to Williamsburg, they brought me back a simple sampler kit and after that I got hooked. Since then I have done a sampler for my dad when he came out of hospital, he died four years ago, a 60th birthday sampler for my mother-in-law (it was originally a Diamond Jubilee sampler that I re-charted), a large All Our Yesterdays piece for my Aunties birthday and birth sampler for her first child. I also did a sampler as a Christmas present for my Grandma cos I would show her all the things I was working on and I knew she was silently longing for one of her own.
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19Roland19
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Re: how did you start?

Post by 19Roland19 »

19Roland19 wrote:Found the picture.

This was my first embroidered picture.

Image
This week my granddaughter has been staying with me. I have been teaching her cross stitch, and she asked me how old I was when I started, so I showed her this picture.

The next day, we were walking home from a mall and she tells me she feels very sad for me. Why? Because when I was little there was no colour in the world. It was all just black and white.
Image
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beeeeeeeeth
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Re: how did you start?

Post by beeeeeeeeth »

19Roland19 wrote:The next day, we were walking home from a mall and she tells me she feels very sad for me. Why? Because when I was little there was no colour in the world. It was all just black and white.
I used to think this when I was little! I remember asking my mum what life was like before colour was invented :oops:

I was under the impression that it happened around the same time that the currency changed!
muguet
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Re: how did you start?

Post by muguet »

Since I just officially started, it's an easy question for me to answer!
I cross stitched when I was quite young, probably 9-10, because my mother cross stitched. I remember thinking how lovely it would be to have your own project and she taught me a few times over different projects for children.
Recently, I was looking for a craft since I was inspired by friends that have a lot of talent. I am easily overwhelmed so I thought of needle felting. I found myself at my LNS looking for wool and bought a cross stitch kit instead! The rest was history :)
Mary

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"Angel Sampler" (S 07/05)
"Holiday Town Church" (S 08/12)
"Whats This" HAED (S 08/28)

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"Patience" (S 08/08 F 08/19)
"Schubeart" (S 20/08 F 08/23)
TheOtherDrew
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Re: how did you start?

Post by TheOtherDrew »

I did a few small kits on long car trips when I was really young. I've just gotten back into it though. I got out of it because most of the kits available were either really cutesy, feminine or religious which aren't really to my taste. I've gotten back into it because I'm tying to reproduce some of my favourite pieces of art.

I'm currently working on "The girl with a pearl earring", I have "Starry night" on its way and I've custom ordered a kit for "The garden of earthly delights (Hell)"
agent_clone
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Re: how did you start?

Post by agent_clone »

I have done the occasional long stitch kits (taking many years to complete each), earlier this year I was getting sick of playing computer games and took up with an unfinished long stitch kit again. I finished that and was looking for another long stitch kit, but I ended up liking the cross stitch patterns better as they have better detail, and have been seriously cross stitching since!
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Mini Heaven On Earth
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mysterystitcher
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Re: how did you start?

Post by mysterystitcher »

fccs wrote:That's beautiful!!
If not stunning! I dare to say I am stitching a bit same kind of project, but for a sad reason. A friend of mine has lost her FIL and grandmother back to back, and I want her to know I don't just shrug my shoulders at her grief.
Best: MysteryStitcher

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weeseechew
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Re: how did you start?

Post by weeseechew »

I had a friend of mine loan me a pattern of a cat to make for my grandmother...That is what got me started on my cross stitching journey..from there I bought a few books and some more floss...lost all my collection when I left my ex-husband...but have since started my collection again....and gotten back into stitching and loving it more than ever....
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ecology665
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Re: how did you start?

Post by ecology665 »

I'm going to be Frank 'Domestic Violence' in family. Back-in-the-day, this was called 'Half Stitch' or Cross Stitch with print. I used to use my allowance as a kid to purchase the kits from JcPenny's. This hobby, along with knitting, and crocheting were my coping skills. :wave: :tea:
I love it. I got two new canvases. I'll post them tomorrow.
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Clive125
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Re: how did you start?

Post by Clive125 »

Hi,

I got into cross stitch a few years ago by my daughter getting me to go to the Harrogate cross stitch fair, I thought I would be the only man there but I was proved wrong. Went rather mad and bought lots of aida, threads and patterns and since then have built up quite a stash. I just need to live long enough to do them all. When I came out of hospital after heart surgery cross stitch was about all I was allowed to do for almost 9 months.
At the moment my partner goes to art class which is a nice little group and I go along with my cross stitch which they all seem to be quite interested in, following my progress with my current project.

Clive
WIP The Junction
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ChristineHinderer
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Re: how did you start?

Post by ChristineHinderer »

My mother enjoyed cross stitching. She would cross stitch while my father drove during our summer vacations to visit family. She was always busy with crafting projects and she had a closet bursting with supplies.

I think I was 7 when I decided I wanted to learn to cross stitch. I remember I had learned a sewing stitch. I reasoned if I could sew then I could cross stitch. The part I don’t understand looking back is I woke up early on a Saturday and tried to teach myself. :oops:

My mother woke up to find me with “Pleasures of Cross Stitch” from Better Homes and Gardens open on the table. I was looking at a pattern of two interlocking hearts. I didn’t understand how to make a cross stitch. I had done my best to color match the floss bobbins to the photo because I didn’t understand the colors had numbers. I had created two interlocked hearts in the middle of a large scrap piece using a sewing stitch on Aida cloth. I remember I liked the cloth with what I thought were “pre-punched” holes that let me pivot my sewing stitch. I also liked that the needle wasn't sharp like the sewing needle.

My mother is a wonderfully kind person. She asked me what I was doing and she helped me work my first few cross stitches before she scolded me for taking her craft things out of the closet without her. :oops: She told me she would teach me to cross stitch but I had to wait until she was ready. I think she helped me pick a project the next weekend. It would be years before I would complete a project but I had works in progress and I was starting to learn.

Christine
Christine

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Summertime Sampler
August Nephew Birth Record - Nautical
September Nephew Birth Record - Dinosaurs

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Santa Claus, King of Hearts - June 2016

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fccs
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Re: how did you start?

Post by fccs »

That's a sweet story!
Debby

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Angel of Love
Book of Mythical Creatures
Cache la Poudre
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CatDetective
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Re: how did you start?

Post by CatDetective »

When I was a kid... nine or ten or so, iirc, my mother taught me how. She found a beginner's kit for teaching children that had a cat, and she sat me down over the course of a couple afternoons, and taught me to cross stitch for myself, while she was making ornaments to give as gifts.

I enjoyed it, but we lived in the middle of nowhere-- and I mean it was over an hour's drive to a craft store, or to much of anything-- and there just weren't that many kits and charts out there that I could have gotten my hands on, let alone ones that interested me. So for many years after that, neither of us cross stitched. My mom worked on a needlepoint project for a while, had one of those nice scroll frames and everything, I eventually picked up embroidery, but I barely even remembered learning to cross stitch for quite some time.

Then I saw an issue of Cross Stitcher in a craft store, remembered that it was something I had once enjoyed, and I was just really attracted to the little kit that came with the magazine-- I think it was to make a card, maybe with a koala on it? Anyway, since then I've stitched on-and-off again, between working on various other hobbies.
MacGyver
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Re: how did you start?

Post by MacGyver »

I found an inexpensive kit "home sweet mortgaged home" while I was in college after my older sister and her bought a house. She still has it and it makes me cringe because it was before I learned that crosses should always be done in the same direction. 35 or more years later and I still use the pattern for family and friends when they buy houses.
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kandifloss
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Re: how did you start?

Post by kandifloss »

I started about 20 years ago when I saw a cross stitch magazine with a free card on it I liked & thought I'd have a go. Wanted a change from knitting. Only a small card to stitch but found I loved it

Kandi :rainbow:
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Mabel Figworthy
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Re: how did you start?

Post by Mabel Figworthy »

MacGyver wrote:She still has it
Then it was obviously much appreciated, whatever direction the crosses went :-)!
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swissette
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Re: how did you start?

Post by swissette »

I started when I was 8 or 9 with some easy pieces, and then I didn't do it through my teens until I was about 18 or 19. That's when I did my first 'big piece' which was all blackwork and loved it. I stopped again after that during my uni years and only recently picked it up again and more seriously..(at 28) I stitch almost every evening now for a couple of hours and if I can then all throughout the weekend.
My sister also urged that I create charts from my artwork so I've started doing that too.

Thanks to my mum I'm in this stitching universe and I'm never stopping :)
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