There, on page 7 in bold, bright colors and lots of illuminating gold was a medieval manuscript. I had to make it -- and I did -- over 20 years ago.
When my sister Tracy sent me a box filled with all my DMC thread, she also included some even weave and Aida fabric, but also a completed piece -- the medieval manuscript.
Looking at the work from a distance of 20 years gave me a perspective I must have missed when I first finished the piece. The stitches were even and the colors still bright. A few of the French knots had unraveled, but they were, as I remember it, my first French knots and I was working with a single strand of thread instead of 2 or 3 strands, hence the slippage. Even so, the work stunned me in its beauty and artistry and I wondered if I could have really been the person who stitched the piece.
I was and I am.
When I work on anything I am more intent on doing it well and finishing the piece, then moving on to the next project I want to do, often beginning a new project before I'm done with the current project. It keeps me from getting bored and over tired and gives me a preview of coming attractions, so to speak. I still do the same thing now that I've returned to x-stitch and I enjoy taking a moment to look through new patterns and magazines and checking out sites online for pieces I might be interested in doing (when I can afford them).
Currently, I'm finishing Jillie's afghan and putting in a bit of time on a Lanarte piece, a leopard. In the meantime, I'll share the finished illuminated medieval manuscript with you while I dream about working the companion piece, which appeared in the Sept/Oct 1991 issue of Cross Stitch & Country Crafts. There's always another project.
I need to get the wrinkles out so it can be framed before I send it to a friend I know will appreciate it, but I think I know how to do that without damaging the fabric or the thread. Wish me luck while I keep myself in stitches.
