Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Finish or Fling? - Advent Calendar Wall Hanging



I started this - oh, 1992? 1993? Sometimes around then. So this makes this project one of my oldest UFOs. It came from a magazine - now defunct - called Needlecraft. I used all sorts of oddments for this, so it is a mix of cotton and polycotton fabrics - a mistake I wouldn't make now, but as I'm unlikely to ever want to wash this, I don't suppose it will really make much difference. It's quite big - about half the width of my double bed here.

When I unwrapped this, I noticed some of the pins holding the felt hair on had rusted - but there's no rhyme or reason to which ones had gone. I think I'm going to have to cut some more shapes out - I don't think I have the templates, but I can draw round the other shapes.

Every single stitch is this is hand sewn - the blocks are pieced over paper. The appliqued faces, hair and quilts are all hand stitched, not fused on. And all those stockings are oversewn by hand. When I took them out of their bag, I was amazed at how fine and regular my stitches were, and how much work in general has gone into this.

Pros:
  • I've done a lot of work already
  • It will look amazing
  • It would free up a lot of space in my stitching box

Cons:
  • There's a lot of hand sewing to do
  • There's a lot of quilting to do
  • The Hermit hates Christmas so won't appreciate this


Finish or fling? Oh, definitely finish - I want to display this next Christmas!

2 comments:

BronnyB said...

Finish!!
I think I have the same Needlecraft magazine.
If you pace yourself and finish one per week - you will have finished the piecing certainly by July, leaving yourself plenty of time to quilt the top.
Finish!!!

Meari said...

I say go for it, Nic!