This week we hand over to Kerri from Sew Perfectly Designed who digs into the world of cross stitch journaling, and how we actively seek to record our world.
The act of recording events such as daily temperature, visited locations, or books read in cross stitch in the style of a sampler.
The history of the cross stitch sampler is a truly interesting one, but a more recent trend, which sits somewhere between a sampler, a stitch along (SAL) and a journal is something we’re seeing more and more of and something we’re interested in seeing where it goes. And no, we’re not talking about those journals you can cross stitch on.
Its History
Interestingly, before we can even start to talk about cross stitch journaling now, we need to talk about what came before; specifically samplers.
Used for hundreds of years to help teach young women to read, samplers were a mainstay in the cross stitch world. However as more modern cross stitch patterns came about in the 80s and 90s, samplers took a back seat. No longer used for their original purpose they languished as a curio (other than the famous home sweet home cross stitch sampler that is).
However cross stitchers are an ingenious lot. At the same time that samplers started to decline in popularity, bullet journaling, or journaling in general, became popular. And it didn’t take long before cross stitchers decided to adapt this new craft into new and interesting forms of self expression.
Cross stitchers all over the world started representing their personal experiences in the form of sampler style stitches. This in turn led to a color-based approach to recording, and with it, came a new form of cross stitch; journaling.
These new styles resulted in the creation of unique pieces of art with a wide variety available.
How it works
The primary goal is to create a personalized record of a particular set of data. Ultimately, this culminates in a unique piece of art that visually tracks your experience over time; be that the course of a year or even a single meal.
Each small period is represented by a particular section on the pattern. A color legend (or key) is referenced to determine the color to stitch that section based on the information you record, however, sometimes this is left out entirely to create a more visual and interesting design.
Variations
The most popular patterns available online usually relate to tracking the daily temperature ranges, simply due to the ease with which you can gather and stitch this data. With the stitchers able to choose either the daily high, average, or even both the minimum and maximum temperatures for a particular day.
This can be a simple red to blue, or more interesting like a tree with leaves going from green, to brown before finally falling off altogether.
However, it really doesn’t need to end there.
We’ve seen patterns that record the average hours of sleep you got from the night before, how many steps you have taken that day, the foods you’ve even in a meal, locations you’ve traveled to, or even one that records your daily mood. There are so many creative options available that you can truly make it your own.
Benefits
This unique form of self-expression is a fun and creative way to represent our daily lives; often chaotic, but also fleeting and precious. Finally, a daily embroidery practice can be very meditative and relaxing. Perfect as tress-relief from our crazy busy schedules as we take out just a little bit of time each day to stitch a leaf or little block of color.
The best part is that you don’t have to wait for January 1st to start either! Many patterns include instructions that allow you to look back historically and “catch up” on days you may have missed, or you can simply start when you want. We saw an example from one sittcher who used the chart to record the daily temperatures for the year of her first child’s birth – 10 years ago!
Other patterns are flexible about the month you can start with and merely record a year since the day your started. But as with all creative endeavors, I like to remind folks that there really isn’t a right way or a wrong way to do this! Each project is special because it is so unique. It important to enjoy the process and just have fun with it.
Have you ever tried a cross stitch journal? And if so, what was it of?
Happy stitching,
Lord Libidan & Sew Perfectly Designed