82-year-old Lasallian brother finishes cross-stitch of periodic table after 20 years!

An 82-year old Lasallian brother just finished his cross-stitching project after two decades!

Posting photos of himself with his large 58 x 54 inch periodic table, Br. Martin Sellner FSC shared the update on Facebook last week.

“Finally after two decades, the cross-stitch of the Periodic Table is complete,” he said.

Br. Martin, a former chemistry teacher at De La Salle University-Manila, also shared a short video of himself doing the last five stitches “out of over one million” for the project.

According to Martin, it took him six years to finish the table and the border as the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry revealed the latest elements.

“Finally the last nine elements were named by the IUPAC and I was able to complete it during this prolonged lockdown,” said Br. Martin.

Br. Martin told GMA News Online that back in 1999, he developed serious back problems while in the Philippines. He went back to the United States to get it resolved, but he found out that surgery wasn’t an option.

When he came back home to the country, “all of a sudden I faced retirement, and I did not know what to do with my spare time,” Br. Martin shared.

Luckily, a friend, who happened to also be the mother of his former students suggested knitting.

“After a while I thought of the Periodic Table, with its 118 ‘boxes.’ So I suggested making a Periodic Table using needlepoint. The lady thought I was crazy, and suggested cross stitching,” he shared.

He added, “Little would I realize that it would take 20 years to finish. Well, now it is finished, and that makes me quite happy.

Br. Martin shared that he didn’t receive any major challenges, aside from the “tedious and boring” work of sewing the border.

“Imagine sewing 1000 stitches in a row, then having to stitch another 1000 going back to complete the cross. Two thousand stitches just to finish one row. In the border there are 45 rows. That is only the top,” he said. “Now repeat with the bottom, and repeat and repeat with the two sides. Boring, tedious, time-consuming. It was during those times when I took on other projects just to be creative.”

Although he won’t be making a big cross-stitch project like the periodic table anymore, he shared that he will continue cross-stitching nonetheless.

“I am already well into a bust of Jesus crowned with thorns. I have two Filipino scenes I want to start: Mt. Mayon and the rice terraces,” he shared.

Aside from cross-stitching, Br. Martin said that he’d soon be making video presentations to different groups, including making TikTok videos “just to put smiles on people’s faces.” – Kaela Malig/RC/LA, GMA News