UFO Wednesday
I realised recently how impersonal my blog feels. Its main purpose is to share patterns with you, but I never really thought about bringing myself into it and making it a little more me. Since I broke my leg, I have spent more time stitching than usual and I’m finding it quite therapeutic. I sorted out my drawers recently and realised how many UFOs I have. Here’s just a small sample of what I found:
- Massive eagle kit
- Fox card
- Tatty ted kit
- Boat kit
- Mistletoe Kisses kit
- Two Christmas tag kits
- Paddington bear card
- Somebunny card
- Penguin card
- Fuzzy bear kit
The list goes on. My problem is that I love starting new kits. I love the excitement of picking out a kit and the look of that fresh white canvas before it has been manhandled or shoved in an embroidery hoop. I love the contrast between the aida and those first bright stitches. It’s so much fun starting new projects! I just tend to fizzle out once I’m about 50 stitches in. I feel like I’m not getting anywhere and I get to the point where I can’t be bothered to continue or I make a mistake and I can’t bear to go back to it, so then I start another new project. I have a serious problem people!
Hopefully, that is about to change. I’m a member of a stitching group on Facebook called I cross stitch and I’m not ashamed of it and have been for some time, and although I’m not very active within the group I enjoy checking in to see what people have been making. One of the members started up a new group (Wednesday UFO Cross Stitchers) this week, perfect for compulsive starters like me. I joined and yesterday was my first UFO Wednesday, something I was really looking forward to, However, will I stick to it week after week? Time will tell. But probably not. As an extra shove to keep me on the wagon, I have decided to blog about my UFO Wednesdays, ensuring that not only do my projects get done (you have my permission to yell at me if I miss a week) but also that I do take that time for myself just to stitch when I do get to go back to work. I went back to work in January after both redundancy and illness, I found that unless I was making something for my amazing partner I didn’t sew at all, and I really missed it. Sewing has always been my “me” time. So, yesterday’s project was to be my metallic Christmas tag kit. This has been a particular nightmare for me. I have done very little work with metallic threads, I find them hard to work with. The threads tend to fray easily and the metallic substance separates from the floss. Plus the pattern calls for french knots in 1 strand. I have found that impossible to do. Every french knot with 1 strand failed and drove me nuts with frustration. So I ended up using two strands instead, and even then, as metallic thread is quite rigid compared to normal floss, the knots are very untidy. I’m planning on using these as Christmas tree decorations, so hopefully once they’re hanging on the tree my shoddy knots won’t be noticed.
Want to know how I got on? Read on.
This kit came free with Cross Stitcher Issue 134. My partner bought me a subscription for it just before their makeover, and I have to say I love it. Their kits are always interesting, not just cards but things to make that you can do something with other than frame and stick on a wall. They are well presented in a little envelope and you get plenty of everything.
The Gift Tag Stitch Kit contains: 16 cardboard tags, a piece of aida, 20 metallic threads (including a metallic brown colour that doesn’t actually appear in the patterns that I can see (yay for freebies!) and some gold string to attach to the tags. They also included a key for the DMC equivalents which is really useful. One of my major bugbears is running out of thread in a free kit and not being able to find matching colours to complete it (I’m looking at you The World of Cross Stitching!) The patterns are suitably cute, ranging from mistletoe to holly to a robin and some wreaths.
Wednesday Morning
I picked this up recently, after it had sat in my drawer for nearly 2 years. I had stitched three leaves on the holly and left it at that. This week I picked it up again, desperate for something to keep me busy.
Wednesday Evening
Okay, so I didn’t do very much last night. That’s because I find metallic threads so hard to work with. It took me over 30 minutes just to make the french knots for the berries under the robin. I did start another new tag though, some mistletoe, which is nearly finished. It needs another leaf doing, the stem and some french knot berries (groan).
So, was UFO Wednesday a success? I’d say yes. A tentative yes, but a yes. I got some sewing done which I might not have otherwise and I didn’t start a new pattern but worked on something already in progress. Next week I’m hoping to get a little more done, and this Wednesday has spurred me on to work in it in between.
How many of you are serial starters and how many UFOs do you have?
Hi Vicky, I love your blog. It was interesting to hear your perspective on the group. I am afraid that I too love starting new projects. I get all excited about how great it will be but once started I eventually fizzle. Add to that the fact that I am a slow stitcher and that makes for a lot of unfinished projects. I like your future Christmas decorations and remember that no matter how much or how little you do, the important thing is that you do something. By the way, do you use
“Thread Heaven”? I have heard that it is a big help in these cases. I hate doing French Knots so a lot of times I replace them with beads. 🙂 P.S. I enjoyed the blog and have bookmarked it so I can return and visit again.
Thanks for your kind words Micki! I do use thread heaven, I couldn’t manage without it! I am thinking of getting some white/pearly coloured seed beads to use on the mistletoe, but I’m not very good with beads either!
Not sure about any more, but once upon a time I was a serial starter.
*Stands* Hi. I’m Em. And it’s been about three years since I last started something I didn’t finish. *Pause* Hoooowever, I still haven’t finished it…
I’m now trying to finish all the sets I began and did three of (and there are four), all the things I cut out aida for and measured up but didn’t start, and all the things I started sewing and didn’t finish. Also, using my extra floss from kits to blanket-stitch the hems of my old umhemmed, or interfacing hems (They get yuckeh).
I only start projects now if it’s very special… Like a gift for someone who is terrible to buy for. *Cough*WHOVIANS*Cough*
I’m dying to start some of these on your site, but I made a commitment… (And that set of four Winnie the Pooh stitches will look much better when I do Tigger.) So after them ^^ LAPRAS!
I have very neatly cut squares of aida and bobbins set aside too! It means I can never find the colours I need because I put them somewhere safe for a project I never got around to starting. And I understand about the commitment, you’ll feel so good when you’ve got it done!
OH GOOD LORD THE METALLIC THREAD. D:
I entered the Bookmark competition on StitchingPirates on deviantART awhile back, and I had my first experience with metallic thread when I decided to design my own bordering. Such an awful experience! I hate it about as much as I hate stamped cross-stitch. xD I put my metallic thread away in my thread sorter box and haven’t touched it since.
The depressing part is how excited I was to use metallic thread, and how pretty it would look on the piece. It didn’t ruin it but it was really difficult to do. xD
I’m not much of a serial starter. I’m more of a “compulsively buy every kit you see because they’re all so gorgeous and will all look awesome when finished then never get around to even opening half of them”. Compulsive kit buyer would probably sum me up nicely, lol. I always finish my projects though, even if I have mutiple going at a time they don’t sit for very long. I can’t move on until they’re finished. I generally have one or two I dislike but I tinker around with between projects I generally enjoy doing, or while doing a big project. (Specifically a cute green frog on glow-in-the-dark stamped fabric. It sounds cool but it’s NOT. D: )
A glow in the dark frog sounds awesome! I agree with you on metallic thread, it looks awesome and adds so much to a finished piece, although I think in this case it’s a bit too much. I think it’s far better used to add that extra something to a project rather than be all the project. I’m thinking of using the spare tags to do some with normal thread, and then just using metallics for the ribbons & stars, etc.