I have finally gotten together my YOTA post for last month, a week late. The fact that I actually managed to get in any stitching on Dimensions Gold Elegance of the Orient, has come as a surprise. Nearly all the full cross stitches are complete, leaving the backstitching and the more awkward half cross stitching, which makes up the flower blossoms. These features of cross stitch patterns are some of my least favourite and as a result I avoid this project. My lack of enthusiasm is really a shame, as it is very close to the finish.
Check out my last post on this to see how much I managed: HAP SAL and YOTA Update - HAED Bridge of Wings & Dimensions Gold Elegance of the Orient
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| Dimensions Gold - Elegance of the Orient WIP |
When looking for a project to work on, I grabbed this one in the hope that I might be able to get in a few hours before it drove me completely crazy. Happily I was able to stick with it over the course of a couple of days. The result is that I completed some of the back stitching and made a start on the bird, the last of the full cross stitching. There is still a large amount of metallic back stitching to be done so that may slow my progress down, depending on how easy Dimensions' metallics are to use. With any luck and some uninterrupted stitching time, I may get this finished in the near future.
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| Elegance of the Orient Detail Shot |
One change I did make in this stitching session was to stitch it in hand rather than on a frame. Where I was working just didn't suit having the frame set up and the in hand stitching worked quite well. The other change was to stop worrying about trying to get it finished. I know I have talked about this before but it is something I struggle with, especially when a piece is very close to completion. I constantly try to work for the finish, rather than just enjoying the process. Learning to relax made a big difference to working on this project and allowed me to get a lot further along than I thought I would.
Is anyone else especially struggling with a particular project? I would love to hear any tricks you have for overcoming it in the comments section below.
She is lovely! You can do this! A little at a time.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment. I'm really eager to get this finished as it is for my mother and I want to be able to give it to her soon.
DeleteI have a project I love, but for some reason I'm struggling with making myself work on it. Rather than put it aside and not touch it, I've made it my weekend project. I work on it Saturday and Sunday every week, since it's only two days but they're also the days I tend to have more time to stitch.
ReplyDeleteBy the time Sunday night rolls around I can put it away and not have to look at it again till the next weekend. It's amazing how much progress can be made this way! I have several very old (decades) projects that I want to finish, and when I'm done with this particular project I'm going to put these other projects into the weekend slot and finish them one by one:)
Thanks for your comment and great suggestion. I think that might be a good idea for me, just set one day a week that is for this project only and hopefully, sloowly but surely it will get finished.
DeleteI finished this project a few years ago and your stitching is looking great, I loved working on it and also have the companion samurai to start. I thought that the metallics with the kit weren't that bad to work with so I think you will be fine !!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your great comment. It's fantastic to hear from someone else who has completed this project. I do love the Samurai one as well, the colours in it are amazing. Glad to hear that the metallics weren't too much of a chore.
DeleteShe's looking fabulous! Now I feel even more guilty about not working on mine....I took her off the frame as I needed the frame for a new start, but seeing yours make me wonder if I did the right thing making her into a UFO :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your great comment Rhona. This piece has definitely been a long term project for me as well, I'm not sure why. It can be difficult to work on a project that just isn't speaking to you. Hopefully you will get back to it some time.
DeleteShe looks gorgeous. You really should finish her.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Thanks so much for your great comment Linda. I totally agree with you, she is so close to completion I should just try and settle to working on her more often.
DeleteJust do a little here and there and she'll get done eventually. Remember that you should enjoy your hobby, and if a particular project isn't working its ok to set it aside for a little while. Try to give it another go after a bit and maybe you'll settle in and enjoy it again.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this great comment. This really did lift my spirits regarding this piece. You are absolutely right of course, little and often will proably see this piece finish before I know it.
DeleteYou can do it, she's stunning. I do have a project that I have been neglecting for some time now but I love the design, it's just that the others are easier and more appealing to stitch til the end ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your great comment and support. Reader's comments always bolster my resolve to get a piece finished. Hopefully I will have more to show on this very soon.
DeleteI can't stop working on a piece as I get near a finish. I get too excited about ticking one from my list! Good luck - she is so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this great comment Justine. When a project has a nice simple finish, like easy backstitching, I too find that I will stick with it and get it completed. However if there is a lot of complicated details it can be difficult to focus on the project as there is still so much left to be done.
DeleteBeautiful stitching,I love this design.
ReplyDeleteI try to stitch for at least 30 minutes each day on any of my 3 main projects and I can see the progress I have made each time and definitely at the end of a week..I no longer worry about a finish,I enjoy the stitching process.If none of my bigger projects are finished in a year then so be it.I found over the years I do not stitch well with time constraints hanging over me,hence my reluctance, these days, to joinSAL's.Even 10 minutes doing some back stitch gets you to a finish:)
Thanks so much for this great comment and for sharing your techniques. I too find that I find it more difficult to stitch a project if it has a time constraint. It is something I would like to tackle as occasionally I really want to give hand made gifts for particular special occasions.
DeleteWow good progress! I'm glad you learned how to enjoy it I struggle with the same thing. I don't have any difficult projects at the moment although I do wish my big wip was done.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment Heather. I'm glad to hear I'm not to only one who struggles with these stitching issues.
DeleteYay! Glad to see you got this one out and managed to work on it a fair bit. I have that feeling with projects getting close to completion too sometimes. I've switched out projects every few stitching sessions to get these done. So I'll stitch what I want for 2 or 3 sessions, then pick up the one I'm dreading and work on it, then next day go back to something else. Hope you can figure it out to get this one completed. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment and great suggestion. I really like the idea of setting a particular day aside for stitching this and allowing myself the freedom to work on other projects the rest of the time.
DeleteShe's beautiful! Great job with the stitching progress. The colors are so vibrant! :D
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment, I do really like the colours in this project. It was definitely one of the things that drew me to purchasing it.
DeleteOh this piece always makes me smile....she is so elegant! Really pleased you got to work on her a bit!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment Thoeria, I am so happy to hear that you enjoy seeing this piece coming up on my blog. That is definitely a great incentive for me to continue to work on this some more.
DeleteShe is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteYou have certainly done & much better job at it than me ;)
Mine has long gone in the bin unfortunately.
I so regret this because when I see yours, it reminds me of how stunning this project is.
Keep going!!
Thanks so much for your comment Mii. Sorry to hear that this project didn't work out for you. A piece this size takes so much time it is vital to get some enjoyment from stitching it, especially when stitching is done in our spare time.
DeleteShe is looking really fab! I have a few projects like that, I love the finished product but I just don't enjoy working on them. What I use to do is just set one night a week aside and work on that project that night, that way it still got some work done on it, even if it was slowly!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment and suggestion. It is strange when I find a chart I love the look but just can't seem to enjoy stitching.
DeleteI totally understand the stitching to get it finished rather than enjoying the process!! I have a HAED project that I started in 2007 and I just want to finish it! I find that sometmes I am making myself stitch it rather than loving the progress.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment. It's great to know that other stitchers struggle with lack of enthusiasm for a particular project. I think that the feeling of pressure to get a piece finished is one of the biggest motivation killers.
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