This year I have spent far more time reading in my free time than working on any of my other hobbies. I tend to go in phases (though I always read--I may not work on my other hobbies at various times), and lately my needlework has been suffering a bit. I did manage to finish a project, but it was for a gift, so I don't get to keep it. I think the only big motivation for finishing it was that I needed to get it in the mail! This is called a needleroll--it is a sort of pincushion, though I suspect most stitchers just display them in baskets. It is stitched with silk floss and took me forever to finish as the design wraps all the way around. You can't really tell from the photo, but there are lots of beads and backstitching as well. I'm not the fastest reader, but I am an even slower stitcher. My sewing/finishing on this was not very good. There is a pretty glaring mistake (to my eyes anyway), but if I don't mention it, perhaps you won't notice?
My newest project is stitching a reproduction sampler. The original sampler is in a private collection. It was stitched in England in 1790. It shows a pastoral scene--a shepherd and shepherdess wearing fashionable clothing. Pastoral scenes were quite popular at this time. I think it is going to take me a very long time to complete it. The finished sampler will measure 22-1/4" x 15-1/4". The photo is very bad--you can't see any detail, but part of the border includes stitching eyelets (the stitch is open in the center--creating an "eye"). I don't know how many there are, but there must literally be hundreds of them. They are not really my favorite stitch, but once they are all done, they will look quite impressive.
Although I have progressed a bit further than this, here is my beginning. No eyelets yet! What is amazing about these samplers is that often they were stitched by very young girls. The more complicated samplers were made by women with more experience, but I can't imagine my 8-year old niece working on even a simple sampler! She's more interested in playing with a cell phone or a game boy! Much like reading, I am not content stitching only one thing at a time. I am also contemplating working on this sampler--Jane Turner--another reproduction sampler from 1668! Jane, however, was a very accomplished needlewoman and I am not sure I am up to her stitching ability yet. Her sampler used all sorts of difficult stitches to create texture. By the way, did you know that Mary Queen of Scots was an accomplished needlewoman? Unfortunately I don't think anything I make will grace the wall of a museum, but I still enjoy doing it nonetheless (and my work looks pretty darn good on my own walls at home)!