Tag: cross-stitch

Slow Progress Feels Like No Progress

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I’ve heard it said before that, “Slow progress is better than no progress.” Which is good in theory, but not so much in practice. If I were making no progress because I wasn’t doing anything, that would be understandable and not necessarily frustrating. It’s working for an hour straight and having almost nothing to show for it that gets irritating.



This was three days progress on the background. Closing that tiny hole took three days of work. Granted I only have a couple hours a day to work on this, but it is still disheartening to see it take so much time. Now that I’m on to the hair and skin, it feels like it is moving slightly faster. Only slightly, though. And I have to get this finished by next week to get it sent on time.

The Downfall of the Background

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In painting, colored pencil, basically any medium, a single color background makes the task easier. You just use one paint/pencil/marker/etc. and can use broad strokes to fill in the space more quickly.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite work that way in cross-stitch. Sure, you don’t have to stop and change thread very often, except when you run out. But you still have to make each individual stitch. And thousands of single-color stitches at a time can start to drive a person crazy.

Fortunately, I am finally done with the background, but lack of motivation to complete the ocean of yellow has thrown me way off schedule. What started out as 300-ish stitches a day quickly became nearly 700. Which means I better find some more motivation as the picture starts to define itself. Or this birthday gift will become a father’s day gift.

I have go to start these gifts much earlier…

Bird-day Presents

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Haha, bad pun. Anywhooo….

My grandmothers have birthdays about three weeks apart, so I was looking for something I could make each of them relatively quickly. When I told my mom we needed to go to the craft store to find something, she pulled a kit out that had been given to her. It had two pillowcases with hummingbirds on them. Perfect!

That one got sent out to my maternal grandmother a few days before her birthday. Took maybe two weeks to finish? I don’t really remember. But it was pretty fast, mostly because my mom had already started it. She did most of the light green before putting it down and forgetting about it a bit.

This is where I am with the one for my paternal grandmother. I’m plugging along pretty well. Too bad her birthday is less than a week away. If I’m really lucky I will get it sent Monday. But I’ve still got to finish the backstitch and french knots (grrr, french knots…) plus wash it and let it dry. I should also find a card…Better get back to work.