A Zillion Little Stitches

 

Stitching the Hexablooms is an easy job which does not require much concentration. You can easily work up a hexagon flower while listening to audiobooks or music, or chattering to someone. Or you can just let your mind wander and think of other things. I was engaged in the latter last night and started pondering over the word STITCH.

As you know it can mean several things,

a stitch = a loop of thread resulting from a single pass of the needle in sewing

to stitch = to join something with stitches

to be in stitches = to laugh uncontrollably

a stitch in time saves nine = fix a small problem now to avoid trouble later

not have a stitch on = be in the nude

stitch and bitch  = gather to stitch and chat/gossip with others

to have a stitch = to have a pain (usually at the side of the abdomen)

to require stitches = a wound or incision that requires suturing at a hospital

to stitch up a deal = to set up a deal to one's advantage

and so on...

Now we embroidery stitchers spend a lot of time on stitching, don't we? Have you ever wondered how many stitches you have taken in your life? I have.

So while I sat there and let my needle do all the work, my brain started counting, one, two, three...

I make 14 stitches when I baste the fabric over the cardboard hexagon.

I need 6 petals and 1 centre, so 7 hexagons in total. 

14 x 7 = 98 

I join each petal to the centre, which requires 17 stitches

To go around all the sides of the centre, I need 17 x 6 = 102 stitches.

After removing the cardboard in the middle, I start joining the petals to each other. This requires another 17 stitches for each seam.

3 large basting stitches are also needed to let the thread walk between the petals before I can stitch on the next petal.

Each petal thus needs 17+3 stitches, and there are 6 seams.

17 + 3 = 20

20 x 6 = 120

Each Hexabloom requieres 98 + 102 + 120 = 320 stitches.

How many Hexablooms have I got?

This is just a few!

Piles and piles and piles, I have reached 190. 

190 x 320 = ...

This means I have made 60.800 stitches so far.

I still have a long way to go before reaching the zillion mark! I'd better make another Hexabloom, i.e. 320 new stitches to get closer to my goal.