Piecemakers......

I have had over ten cross-stitch patterns by Told In A Garden for about 14 years now. I picked them up at a garage sale a friend of a friend was having. I think she may have even given them to me for free. I was always drawn to the Amish patterns and thought I had hit the jackpot!!! :) Of course, I did not know how to do cross-stitch, but I would learn. I did start a small project back then, but was teaching myself and with taking care of three kids under the age of 5 then, finding the time for it was not easy. I put them away and just pulled them out last year after seeing my friend Ann working on a pattern. My kids are all teens now and I have been inspired and encouraged by some wonderful Facebook friends to get back to doing what I love. (thanks girls ;)) So I pulled out my patterns and chose one to start on. I chose Piecemakers 2. It was supposed to be stitched on a parsley aida, but I could not find a green shade near me, so I chose to use an ecru color. That was the mistake of a beginner. I did not think too far into it and realized after stitching on it for a while that some of the pattern would get lost in the background. I will end up having to stitch around some of the ladies aprons etc. to make them show up more. I have learned a lot from working on this piece and have enjoyed every moment of it. I can't wait to get it finished and start on another one. I am farther along than this last updated photo and will add a new photo soon. I love having many projects going at once. I enjoy being able to decide what I'm in the mood for and choosing what to work on. Sitting behind my machine, hand stitching baskets or working my cross-stitch. And soon I will have the little spools to hand sew and hand sewing is new to me so I am very excited to learn.