UFOs

Come on, you know you all have them (well I assume you all have them; I know I do); those pesky projects that never got quite finished and have sat there waiting to be picked up again.

This year i am determined to get some of these projects out and finish them.  It is too easy to start more things, which are new and exciting and leave these tings in the cupboard. So, this year i will endeavour to empty my UFO box. i realise that this will never be empty, as other things get banished to the box but it would be nice to clear it just a little.
So, i will now show you what my plans for the year are (besides the baby presents that I am trying to do for two pregnant friends at the minute).

This I started when my kids were very little; my eldest when he was maybe three, in a fit of temper, poured blue cordial over it after i had told him off for something.  The cordial came off but the stitching has been patiently waiting for all these years to be finished. And as you can see, there is very little to go, just some leaves in the corner.

As my kids are now 12 and 14, i guess it will neeed a new home when it is done.I don't imagine either of my two will want it LOL!!

Next:

This is a tapestry I started a couple of years ago. I bought it really cheaply (it was being sold for charity) and I couldn't wait to start it. It is already trammed so shouldn't be too hard thought I. But with many many shades of green in it, it soon found it's way into The Box. I was hesitant in case i used the wrong green in the wrong spot and then ran out of wool.  I know i can ring them and possibly get more but my fear of failure stopped this work before it was barely begun. Even the white has more than one shade.  I would love to get this finished but can see it moving to the bottom of the pile.

This kit I won when i had a christening gown in the Royal Melbourne Show. I won the section which was sponsored by Rajmahal threads.  i got a box of wonderful goodies (thanks Rajmahal!!) including this goldwork kit.  All the poor love needs are her wings and she is done.  I started one, found it to be so fiddly that other things looked like more fun and she ended up in The Box.  So I really should get her finished. I think she is really pretty and I did enjoy making her.

This is something I started last year.  I hadn't done blackwork (bluework) before and bought this table runner which worked out to be exactly right for these teacups.  One is nearly done, with not much to go and then i will be doing another one up the far end and then either one or two up each side. I was going to do two on each long side but a friend thought it might be too fussy. I am still thinking about it.
I do have a reasonable excuse for this going into The Box.  I developed a very sore hand last year which, after numerous tests found nothing at all wrong, was decided to be an inflammatory issue.  Anti-inflammatories seemed to settle the issue, but it hasn't completely gone, so I still need to be careful. But while it was going on, I couldn't do anything much with my hand. Frustrating to say the least.  Now, sewing seems to be okay for it, but knitting and crochet are not good at all (hasn't stopped me though LOL!)
So this poor table runner needs lots of work on it and I really should pick it up again.

This last one is a very new work; started last month.  It is material i was given and over Christmas i thought it would make a lovely table cloth so decided to do a circle of daisies in the middle.  It was going along swimmingly until I ran out of thread, it is a DMC Perle 3; quite thick.  So i have now bought plenty more, from Sovereign Needlework  and have no excuse for finishing it.

My other UFOs which should be done is this smocked dress which just needs buttons and these Wee Care gowns which just need press studs.

I hate that i will get something so close to being finished and leave it for something new.  My problem with the pink dress is that I have two friends who are expecting, and I do not know the sex of the baby for either. So I started this and then began thinking of all the gender neutral things i could do.  What i need to do is take the half an hour to do the buttons and just get it done.
The Wee Care gowns haven't been waiting too long. And the fourth one has only just been finished with the smocking during the week so i was waiting for all four to be smocked before i did the studs.

So, that is my plan for the year.  We will see how far I get with all of them.  And then maybe I might make a start on this:

Which has all the material here, just waiting.  I hadn't done any quilting quite this involved so I was chicken and didn't start it.
But no quilting until some of these things are done.  Hubby will be happy: while I am finishing these projects, I have no excuse to go buy more fabric etc. Although who needs an excuse????