In between freaking out about what to wear to my cousin’s wedding, I finally hit on the perfect wedding gift. I had a tradition of doing a cross stitch sampler whenever someone had a baby or a special anniversary in the family but I stopped stitching a while ago. Faced with having to come up with a decent wedding gift, I decided to pull the old needles and hoops out of the cupboard. It took me ages to find a decent wedding sampler and I ended up getting my mum to choose it, mainly because I like a challenge and tend to go for something elaborate. I’m not even sure if my cousin will like it but the hours of stitching and the cost of getting it framed have to mean something.

I actually thought it would be strange stitching again but I’d forgotten how soothing it could be. Once I got going again, it was like I’d never stopped. As long as I’m being entertained with something decent on television in the background, I can stitch for hours. It’s a bit tricky during the week though because I’m usually too tired to do anything when I come home but I have to finish and get it framed by the end of January so I can’t afford to slack off. I’m pretty quick at stitching though so it’s not impossible.

The framing was going to be another issue though because my favourite crafting shop closed last year and I thought they had closed down the framing shop as well. However, I checked and it is still there. I’m so relieved because they do an excellent job and I trust them with my work.