I suppose the first thing to say about this cross stitch is that it is not in any shape or form to my personal taste. I'm not one for religion. But I made this one for a retirement gift to a person who does hold her religion close to her heart. So yeah. Religion.
I would have liked to do something a bit more intricate or with a nicer quote. But realistically I knew if it was too much I wouldn’t get it done before she retired and I was worried if I picked a quote it'd be from the wrong branch of Christianity. I really have no idea. So I figured play it safe with a generic statement and a small 5x7 inch cross stitch design - I settled on the Hummingbird & Morning Glories mini by Dimensions which I picked from ebay.
There's a few bloopers in my stitching that I worked around instead of unpicking once I noticed them. An odd stitch out of place, one of the back stitched lines is off and one of the light green leave is really out of place. (The odd blue 'leaf' in the upper right is actually as per the chart) As the errors didn't really impact the design too much and I really just wanted it done while I was still mostly motivated to finish I kept working rather than unworking the errors.
I also managed to spill a drop of coffee on it despite my best intentions. It was to be a gift, I was on my best stitching behaviour. Then I look at it and there's a blot on the aida (far edge thankfully so not visible once finished). I think what happened was I left it on the couch and tripped a little while walking past with my drink. The chart seemed to have taken the most damage.
I also managed to spill a drop of coffee on it despite my best intentions. It was to be a gift, I was on my best stitching behaviour. Then I look at it and there's a blot on the aida (far edge thankfully so not visible once finished). I think what happened was I left it on the couch and tripped a little while walking past with my drink. The chart seemed to have taken the most damage.
The design has a lot of thick half stitches...At one point half way through I had a bit of a freak out thinking that my half stitches and/or crosses were the wrong way round. Normally you don't really need to worry which way the cross's go as long as you keep them in the same direction. Thankfully it was all good. I was at a point when the thought occurred to me that if it had been wrong I probably would have just given up.
I framed it up myself and actually did it properly over a mount board and weaving the back. I don't have a post framing picture but it turned out really well. The extra effort (and blood where I stabbed myself) to frame it up properly was well spent. I gave it to the recipient a couple of days later. She really really liked it :) I'm glad. I always hate the idea that I wasted my time doing something and the person I give it to doesn't like it. Makes me feel like I wasted my time.
I framed it up myself and actually did it properly over a mount board and weaving the back. I don't have a post framing picture but it turned out really well. The extra effort (and blood where I stabbed myself) to frame it up properly was well spent. I gave it to the recipient a couple of days later. She really really liked it :) I'm glad. I always hate the idea that I wasted my time doing something and the person I give it to doesn't like it. Makes me feel like I wasted my time.
Finished Design:
Work in progress shots:
