Tuesday, October 04, 2016

Wherein I ponder what I like

Having done a bit of stash acquisition recently (nothing major, just a chart from an online friend and a brief romp through the magazine bins at the public library's annual sale), I find myself thinking about my evolving taste in craft patterns.
When I started stitching in the late '90s/early 2000s, I was allll about the complex.  The more shades, blends, and special flosses, the better it MUST be.  I hoarded Teresa Wentzler patterns - but I never stitched any.  Same went for most of the Miras and other such designs.  I loved them, but I just didn't have the time or patience to start large projects (and I still don't, very often!).  I've since weeded out some of those patterns, although I've kept some because they're just so pretty.
I also used to look derisively down my nose at anything that might be considered "primitive."  Reproduction samplers?  No thanks.  Strange little faceless women standing in front of blocky houses, surrounded by giant flowers and animals of indeterminate species?  I don't think so.  And if it could be described as "cute," there was very little chance I'd stitch it.  Lizzie Kate, Bent Creek, Little House Needleworks...all in the "meh" pile.
But now, as I look at both the patterns I like and the things I've finished (145, according to the post tags!), I'm seeing that small, simple - and possibly "cute" - things do hold some appeal.  It is really more about colors than complexity, I think.  I love colors!  And the right combinations, either as designed or as a product of my own substitutions, make my needle fly.  I'm realizing more and more that the designs I choose to stitch are different from those that seem to be popular in the stitching world, and that's okay.  My heart is happy.

3 comments:

Beth said...

Tastes change - sometimes my older patterns talk to me, sometimes it is time to let them go!

Melinda Forbes said...

This is wonderfully written and you shared this at the most perfect time for me to read. I sometimes are too influenced by what someone else is stitching, or what I think I should be stitching.

Thank you for sharing

Loganstitches said...

Teresa Wentzler fills a file of mine as well. Too complicated to commit to easily, but so pretty. Now I could handle them, but the colors seem a bit dated.

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