Stitching Out Stigma

First of all, it's nearly time for the Easter Blog Hoppity Hop!  Taking place over the Easter weekend each participant will be allocated a letter of the alphabet which they must post along with a nice Easter or Spring themed stitched photo.  In recognition of the varied talents of my followers I think you can also show any sewn, quilted or otherwise crafted Easter or Spring themed items.

Everyone will then hoppity hop around like a little fluffy bunny and collect the letters which will spell out something seasonal.  If you would like to be a picture poster then please drop me an email.

I read about this project in Cross Stitch Collection magazine.  (They are back in my good books because I won another voucher this month and they sorted out my subscription problems too.)

Anyway, Stitching Out Stigma is the brainchild of Natalie who has suffered mental health problems herself and wants to raise awareness by making a display of stitched squares on the theme. There are more details on the page.  The initial deadline is the end of March but she wants to extend it to make a permanent display so there is still time to get involved.

I like these kinds of projects, given a loose brief you can let your mind roam free.  The theme I decided on was the Parents' Point of View.  As those of you who have any experience of illness or disability will be aware you not only have to cope with your child's issues but also the professionals who will surround you and bombard you with acronyms and jargon.  The most essential tool is The File (or The Filing Cabinet in the case of one friend who has three children with three different diagnoses!) and the front page of The File should contain the phones numbers and the acronym list for easy reference!

So I asked the parents in the NAS Group for their acronym suggestions and got over 50 different ones.  I charted as many as possible on graph paper around a central figure of a boy leaping out of the letters ASD.   Because at the centre of the jargon there is always a child.  Here is my progress so far:

I'm stitching on evenweave as although the website says aida it is just the English obsession with the damn fabric and Natalie confirmed that evenweave is fine.  I stuck to 28 count so the proportions will be the same as everyone else.

Here is my sketch for the letters:

Now it's time for the fun part, choosing the colours!

I have completed another one of my DUCJC starts.  This one was a PIF from Sarah-Beth and here it is:

Lizzie*Kate Friends are Angels

Why is yellow fabric so hard to photograph accurately?

I stitched this on 25 count yellow evenweave which means it is rather large for an ornie so will be scrapbooked instead.  The original intention was to stitch it over 1 until I realised that parts of it were already over 1 so that wouldn't work!

Threads used were:

Jodyri Salsa for the words, 

DMC 115 for the heart, 

DMC 90 for the stars and 

Anchor 979 for the blue border.  

Random beads around the stars.

Finally, I am planning to do a giveaway as part of Gifted Gorgeousness in April and this chart will be part of it along with anything else I actually manage to finish!