Paula Gonzalez: Embroidering — without being creative?

While cleaning her room early last year, senior Paula Gonzalez stumbled upon an untouched embroidery set from fifth grade stacked away between her books. The set had survived four family relocations, but Gonzalez had never noticed it until now. Her mom had embroidered as a young child, and through the boredom of quarantine, Paula felt inspired to learn the art as well.

Gonzalez’s embroidery sets come with a set of directions explaining how to organize and stitch together the different color threads. For Gonzalez, the clear instruction manual allows her to create without having to dream up designs by herself.

“I’ve never been creative,” Gonzalez said. “Over quarantine, I’ve learned that there are different ways to be artistic without necessarily having artistic skills.”

Since Gonzalez works with a multitude of similar thread colors, the fabric she embroiders on is printed with different shapes, which indicate the difference in color that she should use on each spot. 

Embroidery is a boredom solver even for people who aren’t necessarily the most artistic, Gonzalez said.

“Anyone can enjoy it,” she said. “It’s very easy, making a cross stitch. I find it really satisfying.”