The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 5,518 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—7,653 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ
Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …
For this week’s Stitching and Crafting/Cross Stitch Level Two Merit Badge, you may think I’m preoccupied with autumn going into winter.
And you’d be right.
Sewing is the best when done in the autumn, with a mug of something warm, a blanket over your cold toes, your pet of choice snoozing next to you, and the fall lineup of your favorite shows just starting. Autumn is when I get all my best crafting done, winter is when I reap the benefits, and spring and summer are when I attempt to get my lazy patootie off the ol’ couch.
I may have to cross-stitch that mantra on something.
One of the best things about cross-stitching is it that gives you the excuse to really go nutty in the embroidery-floss aisle at the craft store. Those twisty loops of rainbow thread are almost better than a fresh box of crayons. And that, my dears, is saying something, ‘cuz there ain’t nothing better than a fresh box of crayons—am I right?
You know I am.
Add to my floss addiction (No, dear dentist of mine, the other kind. Don’t get too happy with me; I still only floss after eating corn on the cob and five minutes before my check-up.) the addition of a coupon and a fun, little box for organizing my new collection, and I was a golden girl. I don’t think there’s a time commitment requirement for this particular badge, but if there was, I would have fulfilled it just lovingly arranging and rearranging my embroidery flosses. They were as happy as clams at high tide in there, and I beamed every time I opened my box.
But seriously. Time to get cracking. And stitching.
I educated myself on the fabrics of cross-stitch: Aida or Evenweave. Or as I like to call ‘em, Sunday fabric.
‘Cuz it’s holy.
Get it? Holey?
Just a little cross-stitch humor there. Ahem.
Now, Aida and Evenweave come in various sizes, depending on how many stitches per inch you’d like. I know, I know, we’re sneaking some math in here. Badges are sly like that: You never know what you’ll end up learning.
Not being one to ever overestimate myself (ha!), I went with the most common and standard of the cross-stitching fabrics: a 14-holes-per-inch Aida.
What are you making, Jane, you might well inquire at this point? Well, I’m glad you asked. I’m making a Christmas stocking.
What? I like to get a jump on the holidays.
Also, my old stocking got a little too close to the roaring fire I was roasting chestnuts on last year. (It’s okay, it was too small, anyway. Santa knows I’ve been VERY good this year, and I’m expecting some serious loot. I mean, look at all these Merit Badges I’ve been earning all year. He has to be pretty proud, and I’m sure that will reflect in the amount of dark chocolate in my new stocking on Christmas morning.)
Of course, I had to choose my most Christmas-y of colors out of my floss collection, and I spent a merry afternoon cross-stitching.
The only drawback is putting my new creation away until Christmas Eve.
Suddenly, I’m in the mood for chestnuts.
