It’s finally finished! I am so glad I persevered with this project. It actually didn’t take long to finish at all, once I had my system down for doing the grass part.
The fabric color was really tricky to capture on camera. It is actually a nice green color, and neither of these photos do it justice.
Start date: Summer 2012 (I think)
Completion date: October 29, 2021
Now to start on something for Halloween, even though it won’t be finished for this year!
XXX
Carrie
I am so close to finishing this project that I started in 2012! I finally came up with a system to make the grass at the bottom not so terrible. I started with the darkest brown which is not only the easiest to see, but also has the least amount of stitches. I used a Post It to keep my place on the chart and then crossed off my stitches with a marker. I did all of this color in a huge area. Then I moved on to the medium brown, which also was easy to see and marked that off with a different colored marker. Then when that was done I started with the third and final grass color, a pale brown that is harder to see against the fabric color. I started on the right hand side and stitched only the bottom stitches. After doing a large section that way, I went back and filled in with that color up to the top, and this was so easy to do while watching TV because there was no counting involved. After doing the right side of the pattern this way, I then moved on to the middle. Now that the middle is done I am working on the left side. After this area is filled in I will only have to do some backstitching in the grass and this project will be DONE! I am determined to get this finished before the end of the year so that it does not turn into a 10 year project. 9 years just sounds so much better 🙂
XXX
Carrie
I haven’t worked on this deer since the beginning of the summer. I put it away and worked on other (much more fun) projects. But I think it is time to get down to business and get this done. And then I don’t think I will ever stitch another project with all greens and browns… or a deer!
XXX
Carrie
This grass area is so slow going and the counting is so difficult. As much as I want to finish this ASAP, I think I am going to have to put it away again for a while. It’s a good thing I was never a model stitcher for a magazine, as this project has been worked off and on for 9 years!
XXX
Carrie
After finishing my last project, I decided to tackle the Deer In The Woods again. I have not worked on this in almost a year, and it was started several years before that. The shades of green and brown are not only boring to stitch, but difficult. Yet I want to get this one over with so I can start on something new. In a few days time, I managed to complete the last of the trees and started on the grass.
The grass is proving especially difficult, so after working on it a bit I decided to put it away again in order to work on A Summer Ball. In a couple of weeks I will go back to the deer and hopefully finish it up. Then I will finally allow myself to start on something new.
XXX
Carrie
 Here is a project that I started a long time ago. It’s a kit by Dimensions called Sew Busy and is worked on 14 count Aida. I don’t recall when I started it, exactly, but I know it was after I moved here and before the kids were born. So my guess is this has probably been in storage for around 12 years or more. Enough is enough!
The middle of the design was mostly finished, except for a few french knots. The bottom wording and the sewing machine (that’s what the black blob will end up being) were done in the last 2 days. My goal is to have this one done by the end of the weekend. I was really able to get some stitching done this past weekend because of the time change! Who needs an extra hour of sleep – an extra hour of stitching is more important!
XXX
Carrie
I’m not exactly sure what the difference is between a WIP and a UFO. I guess a WIP is something you are actively working on, and plan to finish, while a UFO is something that got started but then put away and will probably never be finished. I don’t know what category this deer would fall into. I started it not that long ago – late last summer, I believe. But after a while the colors just go so dreary, I had to put it away. The linen was getting annoying to work on, too. But now that I have finished up several new projects, I felt that I had to get this going again. It will hang in the cabin my husband is building, once it is finally built. He started working on that in 1996 and here we are in 2013, so I don’t feel there is any rush! But it would still be nice to be able to finish and frame this. Hopefully I will be able to get a good amount of this done before having to put it away again. Greens and browns are not my favorite colors, but we’ll see how it goes. Here is the “put away” progress photo.
XXX
Carrie