My Favorite Past Time

I just graduated from a four-year course and was preparing for the board exam when my mother introduced me to the world of cross stitching. I remembered she was doing this when I was small creating small patterns of x's on a cloth that was going to be my pillowcase.

Now this is quite different because the patterns are more intricate and colorful. There are several patterns to choose from flowers, landscapes, people, and many more. When these are finished they are usually framed which makes them more attractive when placed and hanged on walls.

Reviewing for the exam is quite stressful to the mind so to help me relax, I chose to do some cross stitch. I chose patterns of persons and angels. I don't know but I am usually drawn to lady and angel patterns because they are so colorful. And maybe a part of me wants to feel what it is like to create something albeit in a small way because it uses a pattern.

What makes cross stictching very interesting and fun hobby is that it makes me feel like a professional artist. I cannot paint a person well but through cross stitch, I feel that I accomplished something like artists did in their painting and mine through the patterns that I finished.

I have done several cross stitch patterns and some I managed to sold. What makes those framed cross stitch special for me is that I can recall what experiences and feelings I had when I was making them. There was this gazebo pattern that I was doing when I was very depressed. And one that I finished before giving birth to my first child. So,  seeing them hang in the wall of our home brings back nostalgic feelings and memories that I shared with my husband and two daughters. For me, cross stitch is not just a hobby but a part of my life.

We renovated our house just recently and I took great care in seeing to it that these cross stitch frames were stored carefully to prevent any scratches. And these frames made our new house more like a home. The more I was convinced that doing this as a hobby is far more rewarding. Not in terms of money but in terms of fulfillment of seeing my works of arts in the right places and making our house more like a home.

This cross stitch on the left is called "Gazebo" and I made this in 1995. The right side is entitled

"Fruits and Vegetables" and made this while waiting to give birth to my first-born child in 1997.