Tell me about your UFOs...

I've just finished two big cross-stitch projects (really must take pictures some time!) - Sam's birth sampler and afghan rug. When I went looking for what to do next I ran into the problem of all my cross-stitch bits being packed into three different boxes (seriously, yes, there is that much) and as always happens, the most useful bits were the least accessible.

In my explorations I encountered a few UFOs... the dreaded unfinished object that I'm sure haunts many of us.

One was a teddy bear dressed as a pirate riding a seahorse. It's meant for my nephew and it was started over three years ago. Another was a kit of three brightly coloured frogs in see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil poses.

I have plans for two more big projects (alphabet samplers, one for Sam and one for a special friend's baby) but need to wait on some fabric to arrive before I can start.

The plan was that I'd finish some UFOs to keep me busy while I wait (I know there's a picture of sea shells and a footprints poem around somewhere as well, probably others)... Unfortunately, I rapidly found out exactly WHY the two I'd located were UFOs.

The frogs have lots of tiny little areas of colour. I feel like I'm constantly changing threads and can't get a good rhythm going. Every time I feel like I'm getting somewhere it's time to change the sodding colour again! I don't usually find kits all that satisfying - I prefer to work from charts with my own threads (I've got three boxes!) and fabric (I prefer evenweave to aida cloth) - and the constant starting and stopping did my head in and became an instant deal-breaker. I still haven't finished even one frog and my resolve to finish it lasted less than half an hour.

The teddy bear for my nephew - it's a black and white chart and seems somehow blurry to look at. I should try getting it enlarged with a photocopier, but that's hard when I'm not at work and don't really have access to one. Haven't picked it up again yet.

What did I end up doing? I started a whole new project from a book of cross-stitch blocks that I'd been dying to use for ages... different blocks that you put together to form your own design that have actually been designed to be stitched on different fabric colours... I'm now working on a lovely "sunlight in the garden" themed design with lots of bright yellows and soft greens on a beautiful pale green evenweave fabric I've had lying around for years... Plans also underway for things to use the large piece of yellow evenweave that's been lurking for just as long... Wonder what will happen to those alphabet samplers?

Anyway, enough of my babble. Tell me about your unfinished objects and what generally makes a project likely to end up as a UFO for you. For me, it's teeny tiny little areas of colour with lots of changes, lots and lots of half cross-stitch, black and white charts that are hard to read because they are blurry or just too small or way too much back stitch as in a written verse or some such thing. I find that unless I have a real burning desire and purpose for the thing I'm working on, they are the deal-breakers. I like to do designs that can be broken up into small sections which can be completed before moving on to the next. These blocks are great, and the alphabet samplers will be fantastic to do - I can see each letter as a mini-project and it seems a lot less daunting than a design of a similar size that's just one thing.

BW

I have only one cross-stitch UFO, and that's cause I stained the fabric when ironing it first up.

I do however have 2 crochet UFOs, (one because it is huge and the other cause its also using a knit-wit which is annoying), 1 knitting UFO (a mat which I lost in the large afghan crochet rug UFO) and plus multiple sewing UFOs.

Ooops. At least all my DH does is roll his eyes when I buy everything for a new project ....

I have one UFO in cross stitch, and that is a photo of Kameron taken when he was 2. He is now nearly 8 LOL. I am the same as you BW and hate changing colour every few stitches, which is what I have to do on Kamerons. I did do a nice chunk when I broke my foot back in January and I had to rest for 2 weeks, only getting up for the loo and to shower.

I have another on the go at the moment that was a kit. I need to have it done by Dec 28th this year and I HATE doing it. It is black cloth, and the stitches are so tiny. My maginifer even annoys me when I try to do it. I really must get stuck in and get it done though. It is my mum's 60th Birthday present.

I hadn't even thought of sewing, Kazbah... I think I have a few sewing UFOs lurking, too... Never did get the hang of knitting or crochet, though. They would make my hands cramp up while cross-stitch is usually fine even in the midst of my worst arthritis flares, I just have to take more breaks. I suppose there were also many intentions of doing stuff with beading, but that never really got off the ground much.

Astrolady, I've done a few things on black cloth - complete pain in the bum, yes! I found that I had to have really good STRONG light (my parents house is full of fluoro lights so I could actually still work at night) and a white pillow case across my lap did wonders. I hope it's on aida cloth and not an evenweave - black evenweave would be an absolute nightmare!

BW

Yep it is on Aida. I will have to try the white pillowcase. I never gave that a thought. I definitely can't do it at night. Our lights suck LOL.

I have a whole box full! I think it's just lack of time and motivation...I start something and am all excited about it then I guess the novelty wears off and I put it aside for a while...then get excited about starting another project and I end up going through the same cycle again!

My main ones are:

*A patchwork puppy...have all the little squares cut out and one side has been sewn together...the rest is all in pieces.

* A giraffe - again material cut out but still in pieces

* A cushion cover I was embroidering for a friend's baby - started it a few months before he was born and he is almost a year old! Lol

* A ton of burp cloths...I decided it would be a great idea to make some things for our DD and then some I could sell on ebay for some extra $$. I have probably about 10 or 12 that are finished and tried to sell on ebay but nobody wanted them...then I have maybe about 30 that I have cut out but haven't sewn together...such a waste of gorgeous material now that I look back on them! I haven't even used the few I kept for myself, as i've just been using flannellette nappies as burp cloths (can't use them as nappies because I have to use nappy pins to do them up and I'm not talented enough to figure out how to do them up without the nappy falling off!)

* My other big UFO is a pillowcase I was doing for my little brother. first it was for his birthday last year, which is in September. Wasn't done by then so was going to be a Christmas present...still wasn't done! He's 13 now and I think it's probably a bit 'young' for him now so don't know what I will do with it when it eventually is finished. I've cut out the calico for the pillowcase itself and cut out some funky little lizards which I'm hand sewing onto the calico. I've finished sewing on 2 lizards and halfway through another one. there are about 5 lizards on each side of the pillowcase! Seemed like a good idea at the time...lol

those are my major ones. Have a whole box full of ideas and things I hope one day to do...I'll probably be saying that on my deathbed! I did once write down a list of my unfinished projects and stuck it on the fridge but I must have thrown it out as it isn't there anymore!

I have been doing TW's Castle Sampler for years. Lots of blend threads, half stitches and changes in thread, also lots of just the one. I really stuffed it up at the start. I kept my threads too long, so some of the stitching looks dull and fuzzy. Did not know about railroading, I now do it and can see the how much better it looks. I also did a major stuff up, I jumped one thread over, so one section is just slightly offset. One completed and framed, I doubt it will be noticeable to the average person, but I know it is there.

So one day I will finish it, just need a new light and for bubs to be a bit older. Previous attempts where majorly thwarted by little handsn

I'm now reminded that there's a TW pea**** design around somewhere too... a kit that I started, got frustrated with and now I have no idea where it is now. TW designs look amazing, but are a complete pain in the bum to complete!

BW