Worry Cross

Some of you may have heard of a worry stone. For those who have not, here is an entry from Wikipedia:

“Worry stones are smooth, polished gemstones usually in the shape of an oval with a thumb-sized indentation. They are also known as thumb stones or palm stones. They originated in Ancient Greece. Held between the index finger and thumb, rubbing them is believed to lessen one's worries. ”

Well as much as I don’t want to admit this, my sister Tami (http://sewtami.blogspot.com/), came up with the idea of a worry cross.

• The pattern I created in Paint using the rounded rectangle tool. 6” tall by 4” wide
• Using a ¾” piece of pine, I used the router to put a rounded groove going vertically and horizontally (both sides). This eliminates a lot of sanding
• I then put the pattern on the wood centering on the groves
• Now to the scroll saw and cut out the shape of the cross
• Back to the router to round the edges.
• Now the sanding. From 80 grit to 400. All the sanding was done by hand.
• After sanding I soaked the piece in a cherry stain. Follow that up with several coats of polyurethane, lightly sanded to keep it smooth

So the moral of all of this, take your worries to the cross.

Worry Stone In Wikipedia. Retrieved April 16, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worry_stone