As Rachel has noted in a previous project, sometimes one finds oneself being offered someone else's unfinished work, along with a comment on the lines of .... "I don't know what to do with this, but I thought perhaps ...."
My dear heart plays Bridge several times a week with several different partners including a lady called Joan who entered her eighth decade recently. She is a very fine soul, with firm opinions (not always in accord with mine it has to be said), and a heart of gold. She has come to the conclusion that her house is now too big for her and that she must move, so is "clearing out". During this sifting of life's accumulations, she came across two bits of embroidery that her mother had started but never finished. Perhaps, she suggested to him, I might know what to do with them or have some use for them. One, a Christmas tablecloth with sprigs of holly and several half-finished robins has been put to one side to be "thought about". It came with no thread or instructions, and I am quite sure I am not likely to finish it, and will have to find it a kind home with someone who will.
The second was in its own plastic bag, had all the instructions, a clear diagram
an image of the finished item and a goodly tangle of wool thread all tied up together. The only thing missing is the butterfly.
It is definitely not something I would ever take up by choice, but when I saw that it had the approval of one of my go to stitch authors, Jacqueline Enthoven, I looked a bit more kindly at it, and pondered the Man's suggestion that, if finished, it could make a rather nice cushion that could be given to Joan for Christmas
When removed from the bag only the large flowers, the fluffy "thistles" and those few dark stems had been finished. The colouring is more orange than this and, published in the seventies, it has a distinct whiff of avocado bathroom suite about it.
One "thistle" still has to be cut to make it fluffy - the stitch instructions refer to "looped stem stitch" but it felt more like Turkey Rug stitch to me as I completed it. So far the stitching has been going well and quickly, though I suspect all those little details, the stems and French knots will take time. I think I may have the perfect vintage fabric stored away to provide a back to the cushion. I hope I can get it finished in time, and then go back to something a bit more in my line of stitchery!
