Sprite Stitch Board!

So, a year ago I decided to jazz up my ugly travel purse (it's great against pick-pockets and has pockets the right size for phrase books and TP) with cross-stitched flags of all the countries I've been to, plus a big "Don't shoot me" Canadian flag. I made up all of the patterns myself and set them to 16x10 stitches. I just updated it with some from my trip to China last month, so from up-to-down and right-to-left are all the countries I've visited in order:

United States
Mexico
New Zealand
England
France
Scotland
Ireland
Sweden
Cuba
Czech Republic
Austria
Slovakia
China
Hong Kong
Macao

I know that not all of these are technically countries in the sovereign nation sense (England/Scotland and Hong Kong/Macao) but I figured they're distinct enough and USED to all be sovereign countries that it was a fair game. I haven't visited Northern Ireland or Wales (except accidentally driving into it from Cheddar), so I don't think I've earned a Union Jack.

Ohhhh maaan. This is awesome!
Those are all places I totally wanna visit. This looks fantastic!

LOL@BIG "DON'T SHOOT ME" CANADIAN FLAG

Nice work. Does'nt look ugly at all anymore
I'm a bit jealous, but I have a few countrys under my hat that you are missing
Good thing you started with USA. They probably won't let you in after you've been to China and Cuba

Did you stitch directly on the bag or did you make patches first? Did you use some form of sealant to keep the stitches from ripping?

LadyCooper wrote:"Don't shoot me" Canadian flag.

Yeah, I will confess... I've told people I'm Canadian when they gave the snobby "you're *American*?!?!" here in Europe. I even own a red t-shirt that has a nice big maple leaf and says "On the Eh-Team".

I wish I liked my purse enough to stitch the countries I've been to. It's a fantastic idea, and way cheaper than buying the patches in the various countries. Good job, now I've got to find an eternal purse that I actually like...

mud wrote:Nice work. Does'nt look ugly at all anymore
I'm a bit jealous, but I have a few countrys under my hat that you are missing
Good thing you started with USA. They probably won't let you in after you've been to China and Cuba

Did you stitch directly on the bag or did you make patches first? Did you use some form of sealant to keep the stitches from ripping?

I made patches first, then stitched them onto the bag with sewing thread, then gave the edges a quick go with clear nail polish.

They're all in chronological order, so the US is first since we used to do a lot of summer road trips down to Montana when I was very small.

As far as passports go, the Cubans don't actually stamp anyone's passport exactly because of that reason. There's a lot of Americans that go to Cuba illegally (I met more of them than Canadians in Havana!) through either Mexico City or Toronto, plus the Cubans know that while it's perfectly legal for everyone else to visit Cuba, Homeland Security can be so * insane sometimes that it might be hard to get into the US afterwards. Since I went I always sneak in a Castro hat with a red star and a Cuban flag into the US when I visit. I have a pic of me with it on in front of the Lincoln Memorial!

As for China, I don't know. The US shouldn't have a problem with it, but the travel visa pasted into my passport takes up a full page and has big red stars and other commie-tastic stuff over it. I'm not planning on visiting the US anytime soon, but I hope they don't hassle me over it.

Honestly, customs for Cuba and China were far easier and nicer than customs into the US. That can't be right.

That's a very cool idea. But you haven't visited Germany yet, although you've been to Austria, the Czech Republic and France. ._.

I just noticed... is that a USSR flag?

Asinine wrote:I just noticed... is that a USSR flag?

If you mean the red one above the green one, I think it's China? Could be wrong though, I was never great at remembering flags

EDIT: Hehe just realised LadyCooper put a list of the countries under the picture

blackmageheart wrote:If you mean the red one above the green one, I think it's China?

Ah, you're right. They've got the one big star and three (I think?) little ones off to the side. I was just thinking hammer and sickle.

OMG, that's so awesome, such an awesome idea!! =) You're so travelled, wish I could be that travelled lol.