Embroidery Merit Badge, Intermediate Level

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 5,788 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,160 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ

For this week’s Stitching and Crafting/Embroidery Intermediate Level Merit Badge, I got out my luffly collection of rainbow-hued embroidery floss (which reminds me: make a dentist appointment asap). They had been lovingly arranged, according to color and hue and alphabetically, but then I babysat Midge’s triplets.

And they were really into making friendship bracelets.

Let’s just say, they are not as OCD-ish as their Auntie Jane, and they oh-so totally rearranged my skeins. I tried to control my shudders and wails and learned to appreciate chartreuse being next to charcoal, and apricot cuddling up with turquoise.

And I gotta say, burgundy really makes ballet pink pop.

After I spent upteen hours (or at least it felt like that many) untangling my threads and tucking them back into their box where they belonged, I got out my tea towels.

Seven.

Hey, guess what? Guess what else there are seven of?

No, not deadly sins. Sheesh, you gals are jumping to morbid conclusions today! Who’d want to embroider those?

No, no, seven days in the week, of course! Ah, those childhood days of wondering if it was Tuesday or Wednesday, and recalling we could just take a quick peek at our socks or undies … nostalgia. I could really use a few pairs of those these days, as I am … getting a wee bit older. I could also use something with my friends’ and family’s birthdays printed on. Maybe a belt? Scarves with grocery reminders printed on the hem? No? Too weird? Okay, back to Days of the Week Tea Towels then.

(But if you forget your mom’s birthday due to lack of reminder clothing, don’t come fretting to me.)

First, I washed and dried my towels. Next, I found my embroidery hoop, which had been doing double duty as a picture frame. Then, I printed my designs onto my towels. You know what’s super-nifty these days, chickadees? Some printers will work on fabric. I know! It’s amazing the things you can put through a high-quality printer: brown paper bags (cute for anything you want to look extra “vintage-y”), lightweight fabric, wrapping paper … the possibilities are endless. Well, maybe not endless: I don’t recommend anything edible or anything of the feline variety, despite the fact that my cat is obsessed with snuggling with my printer. Don’t even get me started on my pup’s love affair with the vacuum. Your pets may be slightly less odd, in which case, moving right along …

My towels at the ready, I lined up the rest of my arsenal for an afternoon of embroidery: a tall glass of iced tea, several cookies (frosting free … trust me: fine needlework and buttercream don’t mix) and my favorite miniseries, Anne of Green Gables. If you’re anything like me, you watch your favorite movies or shows according to what you’re doing: sewing goes with Anne Shirley for me, just like Austen films go with painting, and Jane Eyre is perfect for baking. There’s no rhyme or reason, it just works. Try it. You’ll see.