My mother taught me to embroider when I was very young. I did it enough to satisfy her need to teach me. In that time, I maybe edged a couple pillowcases, adorned a handful of dish towels, and started but never finished a sampler and a pillow top. When she was content that I had mastered this life skill, I guess I moved on to others. Paper quilling, perhaps, or making the perfect pie crust.

So when today’s make something prompt urged me to use needle and thread, I decided to summon old skills. I scavenged for supplies and found wads of embroidery floss still stuffed in the same little plastic shopping bag I tucked away thirty-some years ago. I grabbed a scrap of fabric, a needle, and a small hoop, and then lightly pencilled a word on the cloth. “Try.” What could it hurt?

My memory delivered a simple outlining stitch, which worked well to trace the cursive letters. I struggled around the bends a bit, but finished the stitching pretty quickly.

And I liked it!

The playful, dotted fabric dared me to embellish. I recalled French knots, and added a few of those to accentuate the points of my letters. Wanting just a bit more, I decided to turn one dot into a flower. I remembered making daisy petals in one simple stitch. But how?

Thank God for the internet. This embroidery picture dictionary gave me just the visual tug I needed to fall back into the once-familiar stitching pattern.

I like the way this looks, and I loved creating it. Do you think my husband will mind if I adorn all his jeans pockets with stitching?