And, voilá. Did you wonder if I would ever finish this? I did! It's been so long since I have picked up a needle and thread and so long since I've even shared any progress at all on any of my projects you have probably forgotten all about it. So here it is, Blackbird Designs' "Pink Hill Manor" finished and ready for framing. I made a few minor changes and only had a few motifs to fill in and finish along with the words to stitch over one (I am very slow when it comes to stitching over one linen thread!), which I finally managed to do today.
It's been a cold, grey and very gloomy day so I popped in a movie (have been having an Alfred Hitchcock marathon of sorts) and have been happily stitching away.
The design was actually charted to read 'Dear Emily' and had more sets of initials, but that didn't really work for me. I wasn't entirely sure what the significance was, so I decided to personalize it in my own way. As February is my birth month and the color scheme is pink (a February sort of color it seems), "February" it was. The letters are all stitched over one linen thread and the rest is over two. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out and just in time for the end of 2012!
Now, do you remember this project? Best not to remind you how long it has been "in progress". Ahem. I am determined to finish it before the end of the year. I am ready to switch from Alfred Hitchcock to Inspector Lynley. I wonder how many seasons it will take before I can finish the last chunk of stitching.
All I have left is to finish filling in this middle section with white and a little backstitching to highlight a few motifs. I don't like working with white floss and both filling in and backstitching is really tedious, but that's all that stands between me and having another project all ready for framing.
As soon as I finish this project I am rewarding myself with choosing a new design to stitch. I do have other unfinished projects, but the draw of stitching something new is too strong to pass up. I've had a really abysmal year when it comes to my needlework. I wonder if I should set myself some sort of goal for next year? Will have to think about that one. But it's great getting back to stitching again, even if it has only been for an afternoon (and now into the evening as well).