39 stitches: a new project.

Any one that has ever spoken to me for more than 5 minutes knows that the last thing I need is another new project.  Especially when you see the boxes of projects lined up waiting for my attention.  So when I first saw the 39 squares project on Melissa Goodsell's blog, I was NOT going to participate.  I loved looking at everyone else's squares though.  I hadn't embroidered in some 30 odd years, after all!  And, I had tons of things already in the works.  I certainly wasn't going to get involved in anything else.  Yeah, right.

This stitch along started on March 1.  The premise is to stitch one 1" square each day for 39 days, or one square of each year of your life.  I visited may different blogs, and stopped by the Flikr site to see ever more darling little squares.  On Friday, March 26, 25 days into the stitch along.....I cracked.  I was up for hours that night, sketching out my squares.  On Saturday, I toyed with whether or not I wanted to play along.  On Sunday, I bought the supplies.  On Sunday night....I began.  Sigh.

Of course, I made some key changes, as I can't seem to ever follow directions to the letter.  I am doing 40 squares, since I will be 40 this year.  It has been a really long time since I embroidered, so my squares are 1 1/2 inches instead of 1".  I felt more comfortable being able to create something recognizable with a little more room.  And I am doing as many squares a day as I can fit in.  Also, each square is something defining about my life in some way.  So, here are the first 5 squares:

My birthdate, stitched in my birthstone color, surrounded by snowflakes.  My dad says I was born during the biggest snow storm in many years.

My dad and mom.  Because I was a daughter before I was anything else.

Me and my sister.  Because that is the next thing I was.  I am in yellow, my sister is in pink.  Because those were the colors of our bedrooms as kids.

A cross, representing my Lutheran roots.  Our church's cross is currently draped in purple for Lent, and I really like it.  So, here it is.

The sun, representing our move to California from New Jersey, in 1976.  I was 5, which is why the sun looks like a kindergartener stitched it.  No, not really, my skills are just that rusty.  But, my explanation could work too, so I'm sticking to it.

Stay tuned for future squares!