Pandemic Project: 12 cross-stitched flowers come to life as stitcher binge-watches ‘Law & Order’

Paula Nordgaarden’s home is filled with evidence of her passion. Beautifully framed cross-stitch pieces adorn the walls and perch atop tables and cabinets.

Most of the pieces reflect her other passion – gardening. Fanciful floral works in vibrant colors reveal her love of growing pretty things.

Her newest creation is perhaps her most ambitious, and it took the shutdown for her to finally commit to it.

Twelve radiant flowers, complete from roots, to bulb, to stem, to blossom, stretch across a black background.

“I always have a project going, but nothing this elaborate,” she said. “I’ve wanted to do this one for years. When the lockdown was looming, I ordered it.”

Nordgaarden started stitching as a young wife living on a farm.

“When the marriage ended, I put away my needle for a while,” she said.

Later, when she resumed stitching, she left the earth tone colors she once used behind, and thought of something her mother told her.

“My mother always said ‘bloom where you are planted,’ ” recalled Nordgaarden, and her passion for floral stitchery in jewel tones and sunset hues began in earnest.

“I also picked up quilting along the way, but you can’t take quilting projects with you,” she said.

In her career as a social worker, and later as director of Wishing Star Foundation, she was often on the go, and enjoyed having small projects on hand.

Her newly completed 42½-by-15-inch cross-stitch features more than 50 colors.

“Black is really hard to work on,” she said of the background. “Normally my cross-stitch time is limited, but I had ample time to stitch and binge on ‘Law and Order.’ ”

That’s right. Thanks to the pandemic, in addition to completing the ambitious project, she also watched a series she was too busy to see when it originally aired.

“I watched every single episode of ‘Law and Order,’ ” Nordgaarden said. “I couldn’t watch it when I was working full time and getting two master’s degrees.”

The project also kept her in touch with loved ones.

“Each week I messaged family and friends a photo of a completed bulb,” she said. “The project kept me connected to them; growing deeper relationships and keeping me sane.”

Since she’s missing out on gym workouts and Rotary meetings, she’s already started a new project – albeit a smaller one. She’s stitching another addition to her cross-stitch Christmas village. Each square is mounted on a glass block, and an LED light sparkles from within.

She hopes by Christmas she’ll be able to resume normal activities, which makes her especially glad she tackled the complex floral project.

“I finished it in 12 weeks,” Nordgaarden said. “During normal times this would have kept me busy for a year.”