Friday, April 22, 2011

Free Chart for Earth Day... Make it Do

"Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" is a WWII era slogan that has been revived and is used commonly today as a motto of frugal living.

Each year on Earth Day, for the past several, I have done some re-evaluating of how we live. In a way, it has replaced New Year's Day for me, since I always seem to be so busy at that time to actually think, let alone make resolutions.

We, as a family, are slowly but surely, changing the way we interact with the world around us, and are trying to be very conscious of our consumer impact on the environment.

I haven't done much research on the organization itself, but found this quiz at Conservation International's website to be thought-provoking. Want to know my score? I was pretty pleased with a 74, which, in their estimation, makes me an "Eco-Ally". But there are definitely areas where I can improve.

And since none of us are perfect, I am sure there are areas where you can improve your impact as well.

Here is a little design I created for you to stitch in commemoration of Earth Day 2011 (click on the image to be re-directed to a downloadable pdf file):


The idea is to only use materials you already have on hand to stitch it. And even better yet, if you have a large, healthy collection of orts in a jar, maybe you could stitch it only using those bits. Stick with the suggested colorway, but only as long as a thread holds out, then find another bit of thread that matches to finish out your vine/flower/bird. Let the variation in the colors of your threads create a lovely mosaic of frugality!

Its a small design, and will probably not even make a dent in your stash, but the idea is to get you (along with me) thinking about what you can do to make what you have stretch a little further before buying something new.

And if any of you decide to stitch it on black linen, please be sure to show me a picture. I think it would look quite lovely:

13 comments:

Me 2 U Primitives said...

I love this saying - I have not heard this before. I was wondering if it was just me, but when I tried to print it, it will just come up a black chart. I will check back later to see if it will work for me. Thanks for offering it. Trish

The Humble Stitcher said...

Thanks, Beth! It's really sweet of you to share such a wonderful design with us. I printed the chart up just fine and hope to get working on it later today :)

Faye said...

perfect, just perfect~~~ I CANNOT wait to stitch this~~~ Thanks so very much!! Faye

Me 2 U Primitives said...

Hi Beth - it printed just fine this time. Must have been something on my end. I think I'll work on this tonight. Trish

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this pattern. I love the saying. It reminds me of my Grandmother.

maggiesfarm said...

Thanks for the pattern Beth. :)
I had to laugh at your use of the word "ort"...one of my favorite odd words.

Happy (sunny!) Easter weekend.

Merrie

Dora said...

Thank you, Beth. I recycled a piece of paper and printed it out on the other side :)

Maggee said...

What an excellent saying! I MUST get this one in my rotation! Thanks for the free chart! Hugs.

Charlene ♥ NC said...

Thank you, Beth! I'm a bit late, but the thought always applies!! I'll be stitching this one very soon!

Patty C. said...

I can't copy this one either - I would love a copy if someone could sent it to me - Mine comes out blank as well ;(

Bekca said...

Thank you very much for this free pattern. I found a link on Faye's blog and thought I'd check it out, I'm so glad I did :) I just love the idea behind it and will hopefully stitch it up soon with whatever threads I can find! Best wishes and happy stitching to you.

Anita said...

Hello,
Would you like to follow my blog too, i love your crosstitching projects

Kate said...

Thank you - I quite like this.