Almost ready to give up
I have been stitching for at least an hour each night on the background of my Rozashi piece, Plum Blossoms.
Wait. Let me back up. I originally took this course through either my local EGA chapter or through the CyberStitchers chapter a few years ago. This year, CyberStitchers decided to offer it again, so I re-registered, thinking that might give me the motivation to finish it and send it in for evaluation.
Being that CyberStitchers has members all over the world, managing correspondence courses is a little more troublesome than in a face-to-face chapter. A coordinator is assigned for each course, just like in a “normal” chapter. That coordinator is the main contact between the teacher and the chapter. The difference is that in a normal chapter, the interactions between members and the coordinator can happen in person. Not so with a cyber chapter. All of those interactions (distributing kits and instructions, collecting finished pieces, and redistributing pieces back from evaluation) have to be accomplished via mail. The mailing times (student to coordinator, coordinator to teacher) have to be considered.
So, when does my Plum Blossoms have to be done, you ask? Umm… well… it’s due to the teacher (Margaret Kinsey) by the end of the month. Yes, this month. June. Which means that the coordinator wants them by June 15. As in 10 days from now. Which means I’ve got less than a week to get my butt in gear and finish this thing.
Then again, maybe I don’t. As one of my stitchy friends pointed out, I could just send it in incomplete, since there’s more than enough finished for evaluation of each technique.
But I know myself. If I don’t get it done now, using this deadline as motivation, it will likely come back from the evaluation and go back into the WIP pile, maybe seeing the light of day again in a year. Or more. And it will still look like it does now.
That said, I’m really sick of it. Maybe I’m supposed to be getting into some zen place or something with the repetition, but all I know is that I keep stitching and stitching and not seeing much progress. Does anybody enjoy stitching background like this? Why? Can you give me hints as to how to approach it so that it doesn’t seem like a chore?
Of course, I’m not at all sorry I decided to try Rozashi. As I’ve said before, I believe that everything you do with needle and thread improves everything else you do with needle and thread. I encourage anyone who’s at all curious about various ethnic techniques to try it. I just hope you’re able to find more enjoyment in stitching background than I am. :-)
Gotta go. I have background to stitch.
9 comments:
Backgrounds are always endless. That's one reason I like to stitch them first. If they are huge, then I start them first, then when I am sick of background, I do something in the foreground. You just have to make yourself work on it. Having a deadline doesn't help, though.
Sorry, there is no magic spell to make elves come do this at night while you sleep.
I am with Jane on this....don't give up...you will make it....we will cheer from the sidelines.
I hate stitching backgrounds and just dumped my latest sampler, Ann Medd, in to the Time Out corner. Maybe if you just put one length of thread in a night you'll slowly work through all that background. That's what I'm doing. After a couple of days of ignoring it, I realized that wasn't the solution to getting it done, so it's a thread a day.
Your piece does look wonderful though, so don't give up!!!
My goodness. You've made so much progress since last I viewed this piece. You can do this by the deadline - give yourself permission to start a new piece you've been dying to do when you're done. And think about that piece while stitching this background. It is lovely.
Your piece is BEAUTIFUL!
It is beautiful. Try working a length of floss in the bottom corner then reward yourself by finishing an area around the flowers. Do send it in whether it is finished or not and tell us when it comes back so we can encourage you to finish if it isn't quite done. It will certainly be worth it in the end - lovely design - beautiful stitching.
You're well within sight of finishing it now, so keep it up!
I too tend to try to start backgrounds, if not first, certainly early on. I've ploughed through a few where I didn't and learnt from it!
So, the Stitch Witch is visiting your house now. I know this feeling, I was sure the Stitch Witch was removing the bacground of the piece I was stitching too (see http://sudukc.wordpress.com/2010/06/02/the-stitch-witch-is-visiting/)
But all kidding aside, this is a beautiful piece, keep stitching.
Jeanne, i am cheering you on to finish that background stitching. What you have done so far looks beautiful. Towards the end of any piece I often feel like I am not making as much progress as I should. It helps me to divide up what is left over the remaining days so if I finish my goal each day I know I am making progress even if it doesn't feel like it.
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