Artist Symbol- Making it Your Own

When I first started art journaling, I struggled with drawing anything and everything. My focus soon became paint...what the paint could do for me...and a small selection of symbols that I wanted to use in my art. I searched for inspiration everywhere... would it be a circle? Heart? Daisy? Nothing seemed authentic. Authentic to ME. Enter the letter "X". 

I use the letter X in every painting. There are always seven of them either hidden or prominent in the painting.. X's have become my signature mark. They are powerful, finite... they evoke passion. X. X is the symbol for me. I kind of have my Jack Nicholson moment when I carve them into wet paint... All work and no play, right?

Sometimes they are very small....sometimes they take over the painting: 

My original painting, "The Score"; Juror's Choice Award, SDAI 2013. The left side of this painting is row after row or repetitive letter 'X'.

So in the hunt to add sewing into my art...still keep it my own...and still keep it abstract.. I've been sewing  what I call "Patches". Layer after layer of thread...in my color palette.. with my symbol on top. Some of these have metallic thread...others are more subtle. 

It would be much easier for me if thread carried the same color names as paint... 

I like the frayed edges....the perfectly imperfectness.. My art does not warrant things that are tidy and neat.. Isn't that weird? I make sloppy art...yet my hands and studio remain meticulous.. Interesting.. just thought of that. So anyway, what do you think? Got any symbols in your art?

A "patch" from the back. Free-motion stitching on a couple layers of stabilizer.