Rescuing Vintage Cross Stitch

Last month I got a lovely little collection of cross stitch pieces in my lot of fabric for my friend's quilting class. She kindly allowed me to keep them, so first I decided to clean and frame the two samplers that came in the collection. Cleaning cross stitch can be tricky, but there is a process -- and please note, this is my own process. I am not an expert, and for any valuable vintage needlework you should consult a professional cleaner or conservator.

This particular piece has a lot of red embroidery thread. I will guess it's DMC brand, which tends to be colorfast. However, in my experience red almost always bleeds, and I'm not positive about the brand of thread, so it would be risky to water-wash it (to test the thread, snip a tiny piece from the tails on the back side, weet the snippet, and place it on a white paper towel to dry. If it bleeds, it will leave a color mark on the towel.) Luckily this piece also has no patchy stains or foxing.

I first tape down the piece to my cutting mat and remove all the surface dirt and dust using my cordless handheld vaccuum, which has very gentle suction. You can rubber-band a piece of mesh over the end of a regular vaccuum hose to keep it from damaging a needlework piece.

I then press the piece from the back side using a pressing cloth, with the steam on.

Finally I go over the front of the piece with a lint remover, which usually gets whatever the vaccuum didn't.

After trimming and framing, here's the final result.

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Stuff

After finding this Caron one pound skein of lovely peach yarn in my thrifted lot I raided my stash for two cakes of Mandala in Pegasus, which matches it perfectly. For practice and hand therapy I'm going to make another Worth Street Afghan with this free pattern , but this time I'll use the yarn that was recommended for it plus the one pound skein. I'm not quite ready to do the vintage/recycled linen quilt I had planned (still a bit too nervous about the idea), so I'm going to use some color therapy and make a quilt from these thrifted green fat quarters. I considered doing another Yellow Brick road patchwork pattern, but I might go with a split rail fence like this one.

Journal Find

This is a page from my 2010 poetry journal. My handwriting isn't the best, so I'll transcribe it: If my heart survives to tell all the secrets kept inside it will be an abalone shell in which the beauty did reside. But I think I will always be lost to the tides that rage in me . . . humbling and polishing . . . I don't write many self-portrait poems, but this one isn't too embarrassing. A bit overly dramatic, but the girl I was eleven years ago went through some tough times. I'm in a much more peaceful place today.

The Numbers

Back in March my diabetes doctor changed my medication and encouraged me to alter my diet and exercise more in order to bring down my A1C, which at the time tested out at a dismal 8.3 (normal is 5.8.) So for the next two months I dealt with the increased meds, stuck to my decidedly grim diet and added a lot more walking to my exercise regime. P.S., it's never fun to be a diabetic, but over the last couple of months I've really tried to keep a good attitude about it. Attitude isn't everything, but it helps a lot when you have to make significant changes while battling a disease like this. Yesterday I performed a home A1C test, and I'm currently at 6.5. That's pretty amazing results, even for me. If I can get it down another half point before I see the doctor in July I'd be over the moon, but I feel like I've already done great. Image credit: Image by Daniele Liberatori from Pixabay

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