Some projects never seem to get done. For example, I started making a needlepoint Christmas stocking for my daughter Ainsley when she was an infant. She's now 11. It's still not done. But I DID have a craft-to-completion success story this year!
A cross stitch Christmas stocking for my youngest, my daughter Niamh (who is five). I started this one in January, so it only took 11 months. Much better than my 11 year record with Ainsley's stocking. ;-)
Last year, my friend Eva suggested that we work on a cross stitch project together. She lives in Iowa, I live in Arizona, but it provided a fun reason to touch base regularly, chat, and update each other on our progress. Eva suggested the Christmas on Gingerbread Lane Christmas sampler [1] from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery [2]. She knew they had great patterns, easy to follow, and super cute. And, of course, she knows of my affection for all things gingerbread [3].
So it was the first time in, oh, 20ish years that I've attempted any cross stitch work. So of COURSE I decided not to make things easy for myself. I'd stitch on linen, instead of Aida (the easier kind of cross stitch fabric). And I wouldn't just follow the pattern. Oh no, I'd chop it up, re-arrange it, and turn it into a Christmas stocking for Niamh. I do like to jump right in the deep end!
I have to mention here that I bought a Q snap frame [4] for doing my stitching, a product that didn't exist the last time I'd done any cross stitch, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I find it SO much easier to use than an embroidery hoop! It also fit brilliantly in a 12x12 inch plastic scrapbook supplies box [5]. I kept my whole project in that little box, could take it with me, or tuck it away on the shelf whenever I wasn't working on it. I got the idea from some of the awesome ladies on the Frosted Pumpkin Stitch Along group on Facebook [6].
I was seriously slow on this project. Eva finished hers months before I did, and did several other cross stitch projects, besides this one.
I also made about a bajillion and a half mistakes. But you know what? I really don't care. Nobody can really tell. It still looks cute.
And, quite frankly, no way in HELL was I going to rip out even so much as ten stitches to make a correction. And I never discovered my errors until much later. Much, much later.
I'm all about the "good enough" when it comes to craft projects. No perfectionism here. I'm a wing-it-make-it-work gal, and most of the time, that's plenty good enough. It certainly makes me a happier person, and my daughter LOVES her new Christmas stocking, which is what really counts!