[I am following Anne Brooke‘s 2021 #52tagshannemade slow stitch challenge to make a little tag every week of the year – see them all here!] A week divisible by four, and Anne asked us to try a stitch – this time, the simple cross stitch.

For this tag, I used some random cross stitches, a band of cross stitching that expands in size in the middle, and some turned cross stitches that make little plus signs. I also used a scrap of fabric that had a heart printed on it, and attached it with chunky satin stitch. To top it off, I added a small wooden button that I wood-burned the letter “b” into along with a little star.

This tag is made in memorial to my SIL’s dog, Barney, whose ending was sudden and too soon. As Camus said, “life is absurd.”