There are the inevitable projects conceived and commenced but never completed.  It may be because part way through, something looked wrong.  (It wasn’t quite accurate to say in my first post that everything ALWAYS looks better in fabric and thread).  Or that a good way in, I have made a pretty epic mistake that requires a lot of unpicking and I have become disheartened by its magnitude.

I have started things on too small a piece of fabric for their intentioned use.  At other times, I have misjudged dimensions in composition and by the time I’ve realised, the work is too far advanced for unpicking.  Sometimes the piece simply isn’t taking shape in the grand or delicate way I want it to and so I stop.

Starting something large – a large project or a series of pieces intended to complement one another – is a risk because ones taste for a technique, colour scheme, working fabric or style may change before the large thing is completed.  And it lies about unfinished.

Some techniques are plain hard and very fiddly and which means progress is slow and A LOT of patience is required.  The reward is too far away or the brave attempt gives way to doubt about the quality of the needlework and it lies about unfinished.

One of the risks of experimenting with colour schemes is that the colours simply don’t complement all that well.

Sometimes a design involves a lot of different colours crowded into a small space which means a lot of tucking under of threads.  The design becomes thick on the reverse side and the needle is hard to pass through…  abandoned.

Otherwise, there is a discordance between the fabric count and the thickness/thinness of the embroidery thread/wool and the coverage I achieve doesn’t appeal to the eye.

The MAIN reason I have a lot of unfinished projects lying about is that I LOVE STARTING THINGS!  Inspiration and the workings of imagination move too fast for my hands and the day-to-day time available.  I see a design in a new light, my mind goes to work on a possible colour scheme and I’m done – a new piece is born.

Currently, I have three servetky on the go.  Meaning I’m working on all three of them simultaneously.  Starting the kxembroidery page has meant a quiet commitment to completing projects.  All three of these servetky are very different and very beautiful.  One falls in the rather large category.  Another is smaller but involves a bit of labour.  The third is quick and fun and is flying.  I’m looking forward to sharing.  But bear with me whilst I get through at least one – the site will be a little quiet ’till then!

In the meantime, I don’t mind sharing my mistakes or failed experiments.  Each one teaches a good lesson and contributes to the chalked up experience of composing and working embroidery projects.

~oOo~