Mike Powell

Do you remember learning grammar in school? My memories are a bit hazy, because it was a long time ago, but I remember learning that the imperative mood is used to express direct commands, instructions, or advice and the subject is understood to be “you.”

I always think of today, March 4th in the imperative form of “March Forth.” Sometimes it takes a lot of courage (or faith) to take that first step. It can be really scary, especially when heading off for an unknown destination or trying something you have never done before.

As many of you know I’ve been doing a lot of counted cross stitch over the past few months. Some of the designs have been really simple and some have been a bit complicated, but they have all been made up of a series of x’s done on a flat piece of fabric. I have long been intrigued, however, by the three dimensional objects that some people have made with their finished cross stitch pieces.

I can understand pretty well how folks make pillows, although personally my sewing skills are somewhat lacking. Sometimes, though, people will make geometric-shaped objects known as “biscornus.” What is a biscornu? According to Wikipedia, “A biscornu is a small, octagonal, stuffed ornamental pincushion. It is usually made using evenweave fabric, such as Aida cloth, cotton, or linen. The technique involves joining two embroidered squares framed with a backstitch border with a whip stitch in such a way that each corner of one square is attached to the middle of the side of the other. The term comes from the French adjective biscornu, which means irregular, skewed, or odd.”

In theory, it is easy to sew together the two panels and I watched numerous You Tube instructional videos. In practice it was difficult, but I forced myself to push on through—I was determined to “march forth” until the end. The first photo shows my finished biscornu. It is a little wonky and some of the stitches that hold it together are uneven, but I am happy that I pushed through to finish it.

The final two photos show the two panels of my version of the New Beginnings Biscornu that was designed by DH, a talented cross stitch designer and streamer @TheCozyDH.com. As soon as I saw the pattern I knew that I wanted to stitch it, because it features dragonflies, one of my favorite creatures.

So what about you? Are you willing to step out of your comfort zone and “march forth” into unknown territories to try something new? I’d like to say that I followed the Star Trek mission statement “to boldly go where no one has gone before,” but my initial step was more “hesitant” than “bold.”

Success, of course, is not guaranteed, but I really do think that it is worth the risk. Who knows, you might end up with something really cool, like my little biscornu (and, yes, I am definitely biased in my views).

“March forth!”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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