Some of these WIP's/UFO's I had completely forgotten about until now.... Long story short....
Hubby works from home so we decided to renovate and re-organised 2 of our spare bedrooms for him to use for his office and meeting space - this have been done over the last couple of months. So last weekend when we started to sort through all the old "stuff" that had been in the bedrooms and was sitting in the lounge during the reno's, I came across an old pillow case that had a number of scroll frames wrapped up in it.... and on the scroll frames were a number of WIP's (now UFO's) that I had started way back in the dim dark ages (late 1990's or early 2000's), which I had put away for various reasons and never picked up again..... as often happens when you move house and change lives!
Now I don't yet know which ones of these I will actually stitch on again, but I thought I would show you them all anyway and bow my head in shame!
1. Country Companions - Emily
This design was published in the UK Needlecraft magazine back in March 1998. Not sure when I started this but it was probably in 1998 or 1999. I don't even remember why I stopped stitching on this one...
As you can see I do have quite a way to go... but she is very cute so maybe I will pick her up again soon and try and finish her. I think from memory that I may have started stitching her when my niece Emily was born.... Maybe I should finish it for her 21st birthday in 3 years time!
2. To Love and To Cherish
This design I started stitching for my brother just after he got married - it was going to be an Anniversary gift for them... but I didn't get very far with it as all the white and cream was so frustrating so I put it away. Then a couple of years or so after they got married they split up.... so maybe the universe was telling me something when I was struggling with the stitching on this one!!
Unfortunately this lovely design I think will be confined to the "never to be finished" pile....
3. Jingle Bell Joy
What can I can say about this one? It was almost finished when I stopped stitching on it... The design comes from an old Stoney Creek Cross Stitch Collection magazine. 1996 was the year of the magazine but I don't remember when I started it - about 2001 I think. I was stitching this for a friend's baby as a Christmas gift (now here comes the change of life bit!) however, when I split from my first husband I no longer saw those "so-called" friends, so "Jingle Bell Joy" was bundled up and put away! I think I might put this back into my stitching rotation at some point as it is such a sweet design...
Once Teddy is done this would make a lovely wall hanging for Christmas... I don't think I will attempt to turn it into a stocking - the old sewing skills aren't that good!!
4. Beatrix Potter - Storybook Sampler
I love Beatrix Potter! When I first saw this design I just had to stitch it... I started stitching this for the same family as the UFO above... and for the same reason I stopped stitching it...
One day I will get back to this one as I just love those cute characters.
5. World Maps - Egypt
The map of Egypt.... Egypt is right at the top of my bucket list of places to visit! I love most things Egyptian and just had to stitch this when I saw the design advertised in a magazine. This is stitched on evenweave and I suspect (may be wrong) that this was my first step away from Aida....
One day I think I will go back to this one... I only stopped stitching on it when I bundled up all my stitching at the end of my previous life!
6. The Mysteries of Ancient Egypt
Another Egyptian design.... this one was in the UK Cross Stitcher magazine back in June 2001, and I am pretty sure I would have started stitching this around the same time as the map of Egypt above.
I don't really know if I will finish this one...it sort of doesn't do much for me any more.... but then again who knows I might decide to give it another go!
7. "Night" - Maria van Scharrenburg
I have both of these designs in my stash pile - "Night" and "Day" by Maria van Scharrenburg. I started this one about 8 years ago (I think) and was doing really well.... but as with most designs that have too much white or cream I get bored and put them away when the lack of colour starts to annoy me! I also found that this one was hard to stitch on as the scroll frame stand that I have it on was giving me terrible back and shoulder pain.... no excuse I know!
I probably should get back to this design - both Day and Night are so gorgeous and would look lovely all finished...
Ok... confession time is now over! Next post will be all about the active WIP's that I have on the go!
Hugs xx
