Remember this one...

G you may remember this one...

I have felt like doing some stitching of late but I wasn't keen to start something new so I went through my UFO pile and I dragged this poor cast-aside sampler out from its 'dark place'...

This sampler's starting date goes back over three years ago and can be traced back to that time on my other blog'. To update those who haven't seen it before - the pattern came from a book titled The Vanessa Anne Collection which I found at our local library quite a few years ago... It took me about 18 months to actually get it all together before I 'crossed' the first stitch.

I made the change from the black fabric to an 18 count pale pink aida which whilst it doesn't have the same dramatic effect is a lot easier on the eyes to stitch and gives the sampler a much softer look. I have borrowed the book so often now that I probably have more claim to it than the library. It borrowing statistics probably show that it is quite regularly borrowed - and it is -by me!!! I borrow it at its maximum borrowing time - return it for a few days and then re borrow it again...

Why don't I just buy it you say - because I have tried - it rarely comes up on e-bay and if it does - is highly sought after. It doesn't appear to have an Australian distributer and seems to be very expensive on Amazon... Yes, I have done my homework I do intend though to ask the library if they would consider to selling it - I would hate to lose it to a library sale - my stitching book pile would be lost without it!!!! I would say by its publishing date it would be out of print by now...



As you can see I did start off with the best of intentions all those years ago - as I do with all my stitching- but then it gave way to other pursuits - or I just got tired of it. Over time I did stitch bits and pieces of it so really these two photos aren't a true indication of its ongoing progress. And I think if I had to be honest becauseI had made a mistake in the letter 'L' and I couldn't decide whether to pull out quite a bit of work to rectify it I just let it languish in the 'too hard basket'...

So when I decided to tackle it again I looked for the trespassing stitch - it took me ages to find it - so I thought if I had to look that hard to find it would anyone else notice - unless they had the pattern and tracked it stitch for stitch.

In the last few days I have completed the 'L' put in the 'o' 'v' and 'e' plus the majority of the green surrounding it. Ok - not a huge amount - but for a slow stitcher like myself - heaps... I find I get restless and cannot sit for hours stitching so I do it with breaks in between other things - but neverthe less I am pleased with what I have achieved...

I am going to try and do a little over each weekend and see if I can be near the halfway mark by the new year...