Dear Fellow Stitchers,  

One night a few weeks ago, my husband was sitting by my side reading a book while I stitched a wolf project for a friend. Suddenly, after realizing I had messed up a few critical stitches, I started to cry in frustration. My husband, being my constant life-coach, said to me, “Too many times, you forget to look at the big picture.”  

I’ll be the first to admit that this is true for most things in my life. But of course, sticking to my natural defenses and him not being a stitcher and all, I couldn’t help but think to myself, how could he possibly understand my anguish? I had cross-stitches of the wrong color ruining what was supposed to be the beautiful furry face of the grey wolf! Okay, ruin might be a hard word to use, because when I held it at arm’s distance, I could barely notice the estranged stitches, but still, I knew those pesky ten mistakes were there! I would have to pull out all the stitches and start fresh in that area. 

It’s common knowledge to those who know me that I worry too much about the little things instead of looking at the picture as a whole. I worry about the details that don’t really matter. Why do I do this? Hmmm, I’m not entirely sure I know! I do know that when I view life without a scrutinizing eye, I experience the tactile pleasures and the sensory effects with greater pleasure. So maybe I should spend less time behind the ole’ magnifying glass, huh? How about you? Do you tend to spend too much time focusing on the intricate, insignificant details of life, too? 

Even though we love to stitch, we often times forget to take time to enjoy the special treat stitching can be on our senses as we get caught up in the little incidentals instead of exploring the big picture—the whole process. And these little incidentals silently, slowly, bitterly wreak havoc; they play hastily with ambition and purpose. If you’re like me, you know that if we don’t stop and look around at the overall picture, our creative freedom and enjoyment suffers.

Spring is a perfect time to step back and take a wide-angle view of our lives and catch a glimpse of the overall picture. Why spring? Because this is when the world around us starts to bloom! It’s the perfect time to remove the magnifying glass from in front of our faces and see the world in its entire context, not its fragmented individualism. So, as you step back and take that wider look at your projects, remember, one little x is only a little x until you step back and see that in context, its an integral part of a magnificent picture.

Mary Polityka Bush has designed, Silk Sampler Basket, a blooming basket of flowers to celebrate the beauty of seeing life at its best—as a garden of stitches!   

Happy Stitching!

Dennise

P.S. I never did pull out my stitches. That’s right! From a distance, those little miss-colored cross-stitches simply add to the myriad of all the other beautiful stitches surrounding them. So my wolf has freckles now! What could be cuter and more unique than a freckled wolf?