Finish or Fling? - Wizard of Oz

And here, for all to see, is the date of this project. 1994. It could be about to sit its GCSEs, it's that old! Once upon a time, I dressed up as the Scarecrow with a group of people I was involved with, and we paraded through the streets of our town in their Festival parade. It certainly beat the previous year, when I'd dressed up as a mushroom for the same event, and so I decided to commemorate the occasion with a sampler and the help of Jo Verso's books. And for some reason I stopped before adding myself. I'm sure a psychotherapist type person could have a field day with that little nugget :o)

Pros:

• A reminder of a great day out with friends
• A chance to finish an early design of mine

Cons:

• I don't like the style
• Worked on aida

So - Finish or Fling?


Verdict: Fling. I have a professionally taken photo of us all (thanks to the local paper) and I don't need this too.

Finish or Fling? - Winter Sampler

This is the start of a band sampler from a book by Jo Verso. It's one of a set of four, and I think at one point I had designs on stitching the set.

However, this got laid aside because I think I made a counting error in at least one of the specialty stitch bands - and frogging those can be nearly impossible!

Pros:

• Worked on evenweave
• Like the design

Cons:

• Barely started
• Counting errors
• Difficult to frog

So - Finish or Fling?


Verdict: Fling. I haven't left much of a margin for framing. I'm going to cut this up and perhaps make a little ornament out of what I've done so far and reuse the rest of the fabric for something else. 

Finish or Fling? - When This You See

I know I started this out of a lack of anything else available at the time. It's from an old, old, Leisure Arts booklet, and has a basket of flowers on it. I've stitched several other designs from the booklet, including one I have currently hanging in the hall, and another one which I finished in 2007 but probably started at about the same time as this.

Pros:

• It's on evenweave
• It's not a big smapler, wouldn't take long to finish
• Would fit in a standard sized frame

Cons:

• Don't really like the design

So - Finish or Fling?


Verdict: Fling. This too is up for adoption - will send the chart, and check that I used the called for threads!

Finish or Fling? - Time and Season Sampler

Although the date on this says 1994, I know I started it earlier. I bought it with some gift money from my gran at a lovely (now closed) needlework shop in Chesterfield called Brailsford and Way, and I thought it was pricey at the time.

It's worked on 18 count aida, and if I was buying this now, I would ask for this to be subbed out for evenweave or linen. In fact, this isn't so much a "Finish or Fling?" post as a "Finish or Start Over?" - I've been dithering over this for a decade or more and still can't decide. If I restart it, it will be a huge piece, because I would use 28 or 32 count and it's 18" x 12" already... hmmm, some maths tells me 28 count over 2 would make it 23" x 15" (58cm x 38cm).

I've also been stitching it with 2 strands of thread, which I wouldn't do now on that count. However, my stitching life is a journey, and lessons are learned along the way so ...

Pros:

I adore the design as much now as when I bought it

The motto is one - despite it's origins - I love

It will be a spectacular focal point for my wall of samplers

It's kind of symbolic of my stitching life

Cons:

Aida cloth

Using two strands of thread, difficult to get neat

A long way to go

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict: I really don't know. Starting over wouldn't be hugely costly in the scheme of things as this is a heirloom piece (hopefully - The Tot will need to be taught to appreciate such things LOL) but there's been a fair bit of work done already...

Can I have your thoughts and opinions of this, please?

Finish or Fling? - The Boy King

I bought this kit shortly before I left Sussex, and started it then. I have always been fascinated by Tutankamun, and one of my earliest forays into my parent's bookcase was to look at a book they had which was published to coincide with the big Tutankamun exhibition held at the Britsh Museum in the early Seventies.

I lived with my parents for a year when I first moved up here, and that enabled me to save enough money to go on a once in a lifetime trip. So it was fairly obvious that I would pick Egypt - despite my dislike for heat!
Our flight landed at 10.30pm local time, and by 9.00am the next morning, we were in the Cairo museum, and heading for the Tutankamun exhibits... I was not the only one walking round with a huge grin on my face after that, and saying "I can go home now and be happy!" Fortunately, of course, I didn't, because there were a further fourteen amazing days to go and the memories of that trip will stay with me forever.

Pros:

• Love the design, will look spectacular when finished
• Brings back a lot of happy memories
• Will fit with my small collection of Egyptian memorabilia

Cons:

• Still a lot of work to do
• Navy aida. 'nuff said!
• Lots of blending filaments and metallics.

So - Finish or Fling?



Verdict: Despite the huge cons, I really want to finish this!

Finish or Fling? - The Lord is My Shepherd

I don't know who I was stitching this Jo Verso design for, or for what occasion. It certainly wasn't for myself, as I'm pretty much a lifelong atheist, despite my family background. It was possibly for a family member - I'm wondering if it was for my late step-gran, as it would fit with the period of acquiring the book?

Pros:

• All the backstitch lettering is done!
• Stitched on evenweave

Cons:

• Not my sort of thing at all
• Lots of fractional stitching and backstitching to do

So - Finish or Fling?


Verdict: Fling. Or offer for adoption. You will need the relevant Jo Verso book or I could possibly copy the chart for you (it's a colour chart though).

Finish or Fling? - Sweet As Honey

My mum found this in one of her "rootles" - either at a car boot sale or in a charity shop. It's from a Jiffy kit and is stamped cross stitch, not counted. The first kit I ever tried was stamped cross stitch - I was six - and I think that became a UFO too. And my feelings for stamped work have not really altered much in the the intervening 35 years, despite a couple of other attempts...

Pros:

• It's bees!
• My mum gave it me

Cons:

• It's stamped cross stitch, which I hate - I can never get it looking neat enough
• It's almost a prayer, and I don't do that, even in jest - well, especially in jest, as it could be taken as disrespectful - although the idea behind the sentiment I quite like.

So - Finish or Fling?


Verdict - Fling. Again, it's up for adoption if anyone wants it! :o)

Finish or Fling? - Summer Into Autumn

This is a very pretty The Drawn Thread sampler, which I finished 18 months ago and yet didn't add the beads and charm to. No, I don't know why either!

Pros:

• Only needs beads adding
• Love the design
• Have a matchign piece in my stash
• Worked on linen

Cons:

• The date on the sampler is 2008 - how embarassing!

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict: Finish!

Finish or Fling? - Strawberry Sampler

This is a kit I bought in a sale the first Christmas The Hermit and I spent together. I dragged him off to Hobbycraft (who had a good needlecraft selection back then) and he swore he didn't mind me going through every single sale kit in the shop ... I think it was his first wake up call about my obsession! However, he has his own little foibles and interests, so we're probably about even on that score :o)

The design is one of a set of four. I've already stitched the first one, and the set will be a memorial to my gran. Each has some significance to me, and a memory of my gran:

Strawberry - my gran's garden produced the most luscious strawberries (and raspberries) - gran jealously guarded these against the birds and snails, and our summer trips are full of delicious bowls of berries - for breakfast, lunch and dinner, if we wanted! She also grew many of her own vegetables, and there really is nothing to beat newly dug potatoes and freshly picked peas lightly cooked and served with fish landed at market that morning!

Wild Rose - Roses remind me of her, because she had a number of old fashioned rambling roses on the high stone walls of her garden. My gran loved flowers, and was a very skilled gardener - gardens were her passion, much as stitching is mine. She was always very proud of anything I stitched for her - the walls and shelves of her home had many small framed pieces which had originally been cards - I think she'd saved everything I'd ever sent :o)

Iris - irises were a favourite flower of my gran, and a favourite of my mum's, too. Gran's funeral flowers were in her favourite colour, blue, and included some gorgeous irises.

Heartsease - I love the happy smiling faces of heartsease and pansies - I love the old fashioned name, and their apparent delicacy - when really they are tough and will flower in almost any season. They are one of my favourite flowers. They also symbolise "thoughts" - and I have so many good memories of my gran.

Pros:

• Not a huge amount of work to do
• Matches a design I already have finished
• Lovely linen to work on
• A nice reminder of my gran

Cons:

• Can't think of any!

So: Finish or Fling?


Verdict: Finish

Finish or Fling? - Petits Anges

This was another eBay find - I think I must have been ahead of the curve as it is a French design, and it's certainly the French designers carrying the torch for cross stitch at the moment, IMHO. Before you all comment and protest, I'm generalising, I appreciate there are designers of other nationalities out there, but as a body ... it's the French.

Anyway, this became a UFO because it was a travel project, and somewhere on my travels to a series of trade shows, the chart went missing. It could be in Birmingham, London or Frankfurt - or at some point in between.

Pros:

• Still love the design, even the cherubs
• Stitched on linen
• Company is still producing the design

Cons:

• No chart
• Will need to try and contact the company if I want the chart - and I don't write French
• No stockists in the UK

So - Finish or Fling?


Verdict: I do really want to finish this, but it will take some effort on my my part to track down the chart. But yes, Finish.

This is what it will look like when complete:

Finish or Fling? - Random Thoughts

This does look finished - and it pretty much is, it just needs the embellishments. Which I can't find. I put them "somewhere safe" and now I can't lay my hands on them...

Pros:

• Lovely, lovely design
• It's pretty much finished
• Did I say how much I love the design?

Cons:

• Can't find the embellishments.

So - Finish or Fling?



Verdict: Bit of a silly question really. Finish, definitely. Now, has anyone any idea where the charms are?

Finish or Fling? - Pearlescent Bracelet

I bought this little kit when my LNS was closing down, as I'd made a similar bracelet in a different colourway earlier.

I like the idea, I like the bracelet, I don't like the metallic floss.

Pros:

• Something different
• It's small, won't take long

Cons:

• Black aida. Need I say anything as to why this is a con?
• Metallic floss. Ditto

So - Finish or Fling?



Verdict:
Both. I will frog the little I've done, but use the design to stitch it with standard floss.

Finish or Fling? - Patchwork Garden

 

I think I started this in 1998, when I moved back North and lived with my parents for a while. The design is by Elaine Cosier and was published in Cross Stitch Collection. It features a number of specialty stitches.

Pros:

• Stitched on linen
• Specialty stitches

Cons:

• I've lost the chart - that's a pretty big one!
• Don't like the colours I've chosen

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict: Fling. Or at least, recycle the linen.

Finish or Fling? - Pastoral Sampler

 

I think I started this in about 2001/2002. I've already restarted it once, as the varigated green was called for is now discontinued. It matches a little mini sampler I've stitched, and will - apart from the border - be solidly stitched.

Pros:

• Love the design

Cons:

• Stitched on aida
• Solid stitching
• Some fractional stitches in border.

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict: Finish. I think!

Finish or Fling? - Passing Time

This little kit was a charity shop find, and I planned to stitch it for The Tot, but her birthday came round rather more quickly than I allowed for - her birthday coincides with the end of semester assessment season - and so this was put to one side.

It's only a yellow blob at the moment, but it should apparently be a chick blowing a dandelion clock...

Pros:

• Not a huge project to finish
• It's quite cute
• It's a kit, so everything is ready to go.

Cons:

• On aida
• Lots of backstitch

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict:
Finish. I'll try and get it finished for The Tot's birthday this year.

Finish or Fling? Moonshadow Path - Shepherd's Bush

 

This is an old Shepherd's Bush kit that I bought on eBay yonks ago. It's stitched on Quaker cloth using DMC flower threads.

Pros:

• Worked on evenweave
• I like the design

Cons:

• I don't like the fabric - the horizontal and vertical threads are different colours, I find it difficult to see
• I don't like the leaf border - one leaf is too dark, but DMc flower thread is discontinued

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict:

Fling. Or at least offer it up for adoption! Complete kit, including button... comment if you're interested!

Finish or Fling? Moonshadow Path - Full Circle Designs

 

I started this six or seven years ago, as I liked the design. I think I was put off by the dark colour palette, but now it is more appealing, as my tastes have changed.

Pros:

• Love the design
• Love the verse
• Stitched on linen
• Would look great in my sitting room

Cons:

• Quite a bit to do

So: Finish or Fling?

Verdict: Finish

Finish or Fling? - Lizzie*Kate Round Robin

 

This started out as a Round Robin, which collapsed very early on. I was fortunate enough to get it back, although I think only one square - mine - had been stitched. Sporadically, I worked on it, as it had taken a long time to work out the layout for the charts, which are all Lizzie*Kate freebies. Then for some reason, it got stuffed in my UFO box...

Pros:

• Only one design and the charms/buttons to sew on
• Still really like it
• Worked on evenweave

Cons:

• No idea what to do with it when it's complete

So - Finish or Fling?

Verdict: Finish

Finish or Fling? - Little Bee

This was an eBay purchase some time ago. The kit (by DMC) is stitched on 11 count (I think) aida and perle cotton. I think I actually got bored with the relatively large blocks of colour, and the shredding thread, as I can't find any counting errors...

Pros:

• It's a bee!
• Large count, easy on the eyes
• Cheerful colours

Cons:

• Aida
• Perle thread, shreds a lot
• No idea what to do with it when its finished

So - Finish or Fling? (I think I need some kind of cheesy announcer voice-over here)





Verdict: Finish. I think!

Finish or Fling? - Hot Water Bottle Cover

This has moved house with me more times that I really want to count. Observant long term readers of this blog may recognise some of the fabrics have been used in the Advent Calendar Wallhanging, which dates it to about 1992/3.

It was supposed to be a cute hotwater bottle cover of a patchwork quilt. It came from Needlecraft magazine - and I've lost the pattern. And a couple of the pins holding the piles of fabric together have rusted.

Pros:

• Very cute
• You can never have too many hot water bottles

Cons:

• Don't have the pattern
• Some of the fabric is damaged
• The Hermit's Christmas allergy

So: Finish or Fling?


Verdict: Fling. Or at least, subsume the salvagable materials back into my stash.