Welcome to the Caterpillar Cross Stitch 'Stitcher of the Month' competition for February 2020 where the winner will walk away with a £20 gift voucher! I love this community we've built together and I want to showcase the personality and story of a special stitcher each month.
Every one of you is so valued and I want to recognise and celebrate your contributions through this monthly giveaway. On the first day of every month, I'll ask for your nominations. You can nominate yourself or someone else.
Simply email me at info@caterpillarcrossstitch.com with your full name, email address and include a photo of some recent stitching. Don't hold back! Let us hear about your personality, background and experience with stitching. Where you're from, how you started stitching and why you love it!
The winner will receive a £20 Caterpillar Cross Stitch gift voucher and have their work shared on social media, our website and in the next email! At the end of each month, the Caterpillar Cross Stitch team will pick one winner based on the set criteria: creativity, interesting story, enjoyment and passion for cross stitch and overall impression. The winner will be contacted by email and will be interviewed for our blog and social media channels.
And now on to our WINNER for February 2020... Congratulations Erika!
Erika says:
Hi, I'm Erika, from Auburn, Indiana and I'm 43 years old. I started cross stitching when I was a young girl - my mom taught me. She used to make pieces in a hoop edged with lace and sell them at craft fairs.
I stopped stitching at probably 12 or 13 years old as it wasn't really the "in" thing to do at that time and of course we have all the pressures from peers. Since I was overweight and unpopular at school, I figured I didn't need anything else to make me stick out more.
It wasn't until my daughter was born in November 2006 and was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect that I started again. She went in for heart surgery when she was 2 months old and I needed something to keep me busy while I sat by her bedside every day because we couldn't pick her up.
Cross stitch became helpful for me because when she was 18 months old, she was diagnosed with Williams syndrome. She is this amazing and an unthinkably magnetic creature. She inspires me every day to be better and to do better.
So I kind of kept up with a little stitching now and then, mostly WIPs, but recently have really gotten back into it and joined groups on Facebook and I have learned SO much more about cross stitching than I ever knew... like needle minders! (I didn't even know they were a thing!) Now I have a full collection LOL.
So when my daughter is with her dad every other weekend or during the summer, I like to cross stitch in the dead of night as I am watching TV or listening to audiobooks.
Cross stitching gives me a sense of real pride when I finish a piece. Right now, I'm working on a very large stitch-a-long that I just started so there isn't much to see, but it's going to be awesome! Plus, I also learned how to dye my own fabric, which is amazing!
So, for me, stitching it's much more than just a hobby - it helps with my horrible anxiety and sometimes depression and although my main source of pride is of course, my daughter who is now 12, it also brings me so much pride, peace and a sense of calm which is something a person with anxiety doesn't get often.
Currently I'm getting ready to stitch a Hocus Pocus movie themed sampler, it's very cute and I love that movie! I have a few other things I want to get done this year, and I love to do smaller patterns that I can easily finish. I am kind of a slower stitcher, but it's fun for me and it keeps me busy.
I also love to stitch colourful patterns - whimsical, prim or anything to do with food. I think those are just so cute : ) I am getting better about working on my WIPs and I'm hoping to finish at least 3 more by the end of this year so I can frame them and add them to my home office ('Den of Geekdom' as I call it!)
I am also trying to figure out a way to make a pattern for my daughter's syndrome and customise it for her. I'm slowly trying to figure out how to design a small pattern on my own. It's hard! But it's all part of the fun and I've met so many new and wonderful people through cross stitching Facebook groups! It's been so great to have others teach me things.
If you would like to join over 5,500 stitchers in the Facebook group, please click HERE. Well done Erika, your £20 Caterpillar Cross Stitch gift voucher is on its way to you!
Thank you for all of your wonderful entries - it was tough to pick a winner as they were all so lovely to read with some amazing stitching shown! Nominations are now open for our March 2020 Stitcher of the Month - I can't wait to see them!
The Coronation of King Charles III will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury on the morning of May 6th, 2023 at Westminster Abbey. The ceremony will see the King be crowned alongside Queen Consort Camilla.
Why not mark this notable day by crafting something special?
