Getting all set up

Things are moving here in 2MillionStitches land! First things first, I’ve done preliminary fabric layouts for the final cross stitch. It’s REALLY large, nearly 8 foot by 8 foot, and won’t fit on a single piece of fabric, nor would a fabric of this size fit on any available scroll frame. The final piece will have to be fused together and comprised of more than one piece of fabric. The trick, then, is finding an AIDA fabric of appropriate quality and reasonable dimensions so that we get good yield and don’t spend an arm and a leg on fabric. I’d like to reduce the number of pieces of fabric we fuse together at the end but also want the fabric to not drive me insane for the ~20,000 hours it will take to complete this piece.

We’re down to two choices - AIDA fabric purchased directly from DMC that will take 6 pieces in order to allow for 12in margins around the finished piece, or some AIDA that can be purchased by the yard, which will allow for only three pieces of fabric for the final piece.

Samples of each are on their way and we’ll evaluate!

Next is a scroll frame. We’ll be dealing with wide fabric under heavy tension (I like my fabric to basically by a snare drum while I’m stitching on it) so traditional wooden scroll frames are not an option. Hoops are also out, given the amount of excess fabric we’d be dealing with. This leaves either building a custom scroll frame or acquiring a metal one. Building one is not outside my skill levels but cost is a factor and if there’s a commercially available scroll frame that I can use for less than it would take to iterate and perfect one of my own, that’s the route I’ll take.

Fortunately, there is such a thing. I’m extremely excited to announce that I’ve partnered with our very first sponsor, Painting Fairy Cross Stitch, who has generously provided a low cost scroll frame and stand to be used for this project. I’m eager to get it set up for some test stitches, thank you so much!

I’ve also got a nice sit/stand desk ready for the project. My health is reasonably important to me and the idea of sitting for 20,000 hours is unattractive, so we’re going to be alternating between sitting and standing. Once the scroll frame arrives we’ll get it mounted and give it a test run.

Last, we need to get some decorations and lighting and general coziness set up around our work area. I have a few ideas I’m pursuing for this, but you’ll just have to wait and see what happens. Can’t spoil everything :)

Things are moving, get pumped!

Where I took inspiration

I realize, in my old age and decrepitude (I’m 37 going on dead and buried, according to my son), that it may not be at all obvious where the inspiration for this site and this project come from. Allow me to explain -

Cast yourself back to the heady days of the early 2000s. This is a time before social media back when the internet was 80% human generated instead of 80% bot generated. A website appeared one day with 1 million blank pixels on it and a link to a PayPal page. “The Million Dollar Homepage” sprang into existence with the sole goal of selling 1 million pixels for $1 each in order to help fund college for its creator. It started slow but eventually grew into a behemoth and all million pixels were sold. The website lives on to this day.

Now cast yourself back even further, to 1995. A youngster (me) who just learned to read, became obsessed with the Guinness Books of World Records in my elementary school library. These weren’t the big glossy hardback books you can buy at Costco and Barnes and Noble. No, these looked like Tom Clancy novels - 3 inch thick softcover novels with paper as thin as a bible, each with THOUSANDS of records printed in its pages. I pored over these things and determined then and there that my name would end up in that book.

Now, in 2025, we find ourselves here - an old man who stile yearns for a world record, a nostalgic remembrance of a simpler time on the internet, and a passion for cross stitching. What better way to smoosh all these things together than to sell stitches to raise money to break a world record while cross stitching!?

And so it came to be.

Now . . . I just need to find people who want to buy the stitches. Anybody? Anybody?