As I’m finishing up a few projects, I’ve been starting to think of what I want to focus on coming up. With quilting, I am never afraid of lots of UFO projects but with stitching I am. Stitching takes so much longer than quilting. I can sit down and pound a quilt if I need to in two-three weeks without sewing full time. With cross stitch, even if I stitch on something for two hours a night, it can still take me four months to finish something if it is large. So…I like to keep my UFOs at a more manageable level with cross stitch.
I’m still working on my Come to the Garden piece but I can see that it will be coming to an end soon.
From my calculations, I only have a few projects that I would put in the UFO category. For me, that means I haven’t stitched on it for over a month. Everyone has their own definition of what they would call a UFO or WIP. So if for over a month that I haven’t stitched on it, and it’s a UFO.
I have three that fall into that category…
Consider the Lillies by Heart String Samplery.
I stitched on this…
one week only back in February of 2022. The piece is epic. The piece is LARGE. My daughter Kayla wanted me to stitch this with her and I caved and started stitching it. Neither one of us are much further along.
In order to finish this, I need to make some kind of plan like stitching a motif each week or something like that. Even then, it would take me two years to finish it. There are several people who commit to stitching something religious on Sunday and call it their Sunday Stitch. I could see myself possibly doing that.
Somehow, I want to make a plan for this!
Another piece that fell to the wayside is Christmas Garden. This is a Blackbird Design piece. I have seen this stitched and love it but…I don’t know if I want to stitch it and have the words Christmas Garden on it. I’ve been trying to figure out what words to put there instead. Nothing has come to me. But it’s just beautiful when stitched. Oh, I’d love to stitch it.
Yes, I started it…just barely a start.
I have seen people not stitch the words but somehow to me, it screws it up because the piece isn’t in the same proportion. If I could get myself
wrapped around how or if I’d change it, I think I could jump on the bandwagon and stitch it.
I also have a start on A Savior’s Praise. It’s barely a start. Barely.
This I loved and started on Good Friday in 2022. It’s pretty much sad since then. This is Shakespeare’s Peddler piece. I want to stitch it for my paternal grandmother.
I just love this.
I have a love/hate relationship with it though. I love the piece…I especially love the border but I HATE that kind of stitching. The vine is nightmare for me to stitch. The whole two up and three over counting drives me batty. I feel like I am always off. I double and triple count but still second guess myself so I count again.
But oh, I love the look of the border…really LOVE IT!
I have decided that once I pick it back up again I will move towards stitching the inner border and stitch the bands across the piece so I have anchor stitches that I can count off of. I am going to stitch this…but I just don’t know when.
I have two other pieces that I’ve stitched on semi recently…
First is Blackbird Designs Birds of a Feather. A kind blog reader gifted me the pattern. I put a tiny start in it. I have intended to stitch this on the first weekend of the month. Sadly last month I was pushing to finish my Apostle’s Creed piece and didn’t really pick it up. I’m thinking about picking this one up and really going to town in stitching it.
I love the design and this has been my “Unicorn”-sought after piece- for some time.
The other bigger piece I have started is my Pet all the Dogs by Teresa Kogut.
I have taken this on doctor appointments but haven’t done a lot of stitching on it besides that.
I also have my Black Dog Sampler that I’d like to finish. Part of me thought I would take all year to finish it but I’m getting the itch to just stitch it now.
I have many other project waiting in the wings for me to start.
Maker and Mender by With Thy Needle and Thread
Lord’s Prayer by Lila’s Studio
Remember Me by Teresa Kogut
about five Blackbird Designs projects….
ah…so many more.
I also have a couple of small projects going. I don’t think about them as much though.
I really think I’m going to be a good girl and finish something that I already have started first. Right now if I had to chose, I think I would finish Black Dog Sampler and work on Birds of a Feather at the same time. Black Dog Sampler would be the piece that I put most of my time into and Birds of a Feather I would only do a night a week or something…
Then when Black Dog Sampler is finished, I’ll move Birds of a Feather into the focus piece category and pick up Pet all the dogs. I would only stitch the outer floral portion of the border for now and still keep that aside for a bit as my piece that I take with me when I’m needing fill in stitching to do.
That’s my plan I think for now. Once I get a couple done then I want to go back and pick up one of the projects that I haven’t stitched on for awhile…Somehow I want to get down to having fewer projects that are started. I think then I’d feel better about buying things for new projects or starting new projects.
That’s where I am with my cross stitch!!
I love you works in progress Jo. I have many of them on my to do list. I have floss for many of them, but then I get hung up on choosing linen. I don’t have a LNS where I live so have to pretty much rely on on-line shopping. I love when you tell what linens you are using . I have been working almost solely on Live on Little and am very close to a finish. I’ve set it aside to work on some patriotic smalls as I just needed to have some finishes. Love your blog!!!!
WOW. Good for you to be so far along on Live on Little. That piece is HUGE. I’d love to start it but Oh, I need to finish some of these first.
All your UFOs are major stitching projects. I would be overwhelmed with any one of them. I now like to stick to small and quick to finish pieces like the pumpkin SAL. I have done a couple of other small pieces since then too. You are overly ambitious! (Good for you!)
Your cross stitch “starts” remind me of some of your quilt UFOs—just waiting for the right moment! They’re just barely begun but you’re keeping them in your mind and their turn will come!
When I restarted cross stitching a few years ago, I promised myself I would not have more than two projects going at the same time. I’ll admit that occasionally I have had three, but sticking to a large and a small keeps me going. This rule doesn’t keep me from buying and kitting up new projects, I consider those my stock :) I am working on the red house in Heaven and Nature Sing, and I can hardly wait to finish it and move on to the motifs.
I stitched the motifs and then if I had more of the house colors of thread still left while stitching the motifs, I stitched the leftover thread into the house!!
Perhaps a name for Christmas Garden will come to you as you stitch it. My mind went to “Kramer Christmas” for some reason. “Winter Garden” would make it more year round friendly. Spacing or doodads would be needed, but you’re a master at that!
My thought was Winter’s Garden!
Like a poet once said “The best laid plans of mice and men oft gang a glay
Go astray in plain English. He was a Scott
Jo, how about Christmas Charm or Christmas Memory? Those just popped into my mind when I was reading the blog! I love your idea of stitching one stitch every day. I have a project that I just can’t get back to but maybe that would work for me! I want to start another but I just can’t seem to do that until this one is finished. I was thinking maybe if I would have several project of stitching and quilting maybe that would be incentive to do more. I always find something else to keep me busy!
Happy Stitching!!
Dear Jo, You finished your Come to the Garden by committing to doing one thread a day. Why don’t you do this with one of the larger pieces to just keep you moving on it? You do wonderful work. Helen
I need to do that…I just have to pick which piece to get working on…and stick to the commitment.
Instead of “Christmas Garden”, how about “Beautiful Garden”? You mentioned the piece was beautiful and that’s what popped into my head — that and “Kramer’s Garden”, too! You always have such beautiful pieces when you’re done! Deb E
I thought of Winter’s Garden, too. I can’t have that many UFO’s at once. It would drive me nuts – quilting or stitching! I am not quite a monogamous person, but close! Have you picked another wall in your house to start filling up?
What about grandma’s garden?
Re: xmas garden… PEACEFUL GARDEN, CELEBRATION GARDEN, GARDEN OF PRAYER
I have “Christmas Garden” kitted and have always though I would go with welcome to all, peace to all, our last name, Merry Christmas or welcome in German. Fragments of songs or poems; whatever strikes my fancy when it is time to stitch that area. I think you could even get two lines in that area so the possibilities are endless. I always told my husband we could buy an acreage and call it “Whimsy”. People would wonder why but that is OK also.
beautiful work JO! what about winter garden?
For Christmas Garden how about Christ’s Garden or Our Lord’s Garden, don’t all of our garden’s belong to our Lord we are just borrowing them.