Thursday 9 February 2012

The never ending cross stitch sampler

I love doing cross stitch, but although I also love having finished pieces on display, I think that you can have too much of a good thing. Additionally, people I know that would appreciate the time and effort put into a cross stitched gift are also more than capable of producing a far superior piece (and indeed have). So for me it is all about the process.

With this in mind, when a few years ago I asked for a sampler kit for Christmas - Three Things sampler by Moira Blackburn (affiliate link). I deliberately chose a nice big one to keep me going for a long while. Moira Blackburn's designs are influenced by historic samplers, and I really like the inscription on this piece:

Three things there are that will never come back
The arrow shot forth on its destined track
The appointed hour that could not wait, and
The helpful word that was spoken too late.

Not that I am anywhere close to actually stitching that bit yet! I started with the bottom half and I'm doing pretty well, but the top half of the fabric is a big blank. From time to time I have a big burst of activity, but then I worry that I'm going too quickly and I don't want to finish it, because then I would have to start another one!

Moira Blackburn Three Things sampler in progress

UPDATE - I finished the sampler in March 2014! You can see a photograph of the finished sampler here - Moira Blackburn Three Things sampler completed.

4 comments:

  1. What you've done looks very nice though! I still have my big sampler that I started, well, it was before we moved here, so 2004? About halfway done I think but haven't looked at it in years! I've done two birth samplers in the mean time though. I will finish it one day!

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  2. Thank you! I think it's always nice to have a project on the go to turn to! I never did birth samplers, perhaps I'll do some one day!

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  3. That is really beautiful.

    I was lucky enough to find a Moira Blackburn kit in a charity shop last year and I'm really looking forward to stitching it. (http://minibreakmummy.com/2011/10/17/magpie-monday-cross-stitch-beading-kits/ contains a photo if you're interested)

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    1. Thank you! The Moira Blackburn kit that you have is lovely, I do really like her designs.

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