Is this the perfect gift for the person who knows everything?

A few years ago, I made cushions with machine-embroidered words. The words were drawn from the sadly now-defunct Save the Words website, which was dedicated to preserving words in danger of disappearing from the English language.

A friend saw a photo of those cushions and declared them "the perfect gift for the person who knows everything". I'd been thinking of re-visiting the idea but having the words in a crossword/scrabble-like grid format. So this version is hand-stitched with white thread on black Aida.

My friend was delighted to receive the piece and now has it hanging in his office - appropriately in the Communication school at a university.

Words, words, words

The Save the Words website aims to preserve words that are in danger of falling into disuse. While some words should perhaps be allowed to sink without trace, others are well worth preserving. In any event, the website was the inspiration for these cushions.

My friend, Chris, who alerted me to the existence of the Save the Words site, recently did some major renovations to her house and I decided to combine her love of words, my new 5D software and my Husqvarna Diamond Designer machine to make a house-warming gift with a difference. I was still toying with the idea when she rang and invited us to dinner tonight, so the project catapulted up my priority list. I'm still learning how to use both the software and the machine - and to get them to talk to each other - but, despite a few teething problems, I managed to produce these cushions.

The first cushion includes such delights of the English language as dodrantal, redamancy, flosculation, affictitious, trajectitious and vacivity.


The second features keleusmatically, tantuple, rhodologist, drollic, frutescent and secability, as well as other equally arcane words. I recommend a visit to Save the Word for meanings and further endangered words.