Progress Report: A Wedding Sampler Conundrum

The sampler.

So I was going to write today’s article on a Progress Report for the Native Wolf Dream Catcher I’ve been working on… except when I pulled it out to take a picture of it, and pulled up the last progress picture I took… I realized I hadn’t done a single stitch since that article. Oops! I could’ve sworn I’d worked on it some but I couldn’t find what I’d worked on. I must have taken the picture right before I set it aside for the Seashell Pillow Cases I recently talked about.

Since the Native Wolf didn’t work out, I dug out another piece I’ve been wanting to write an article about: a wedding sampler, my first one, that I’m really torn over because I… hate it.

Several of my close friends from high school dated military-bound men. Right after we graduated my friend H discovered her long-time boyfriend was being stationed across the country, and the only way they could be together was if they got married. Since they planned to marry anyway, they were quickly engaged and the wedding was set for the end of the summer before he had to leave. It was just enough time for them to be married so they could move to the base together.

Straight out of high school one of my close friends was already getting married! I had to make something for them. But by the time the wedding was set it was almost July and the wedding was in September. So I rushed to my Joann’s to try and find something I could make for her. I really wanted to do a wedding sampler, but the selection in the store was pretty small. All the samplers were enormous projects, and as we know, I don’t agree with large projects. Plus I didn’t have enough time to do a large piece. I’m a slow stitcher and I only had roughly two months until the wedding.

I deliberated for a long time but finally settled on a Design Works kit called “Wedding Angels”. It was still an enormous piece – 8 inches by 10 inches – but it was one of the smallest they had. To be honest, I never loved the kit to begin with; the cartoony feel felt inappropriate for this couple and I only picked it because it looked quick and easy since it wasn’t elaborate vines of flowers in a heart like most of the others were. I settled, and I guess that’s what I get for doing so, what happened later.

I worked furiously and got about half of the first female angel done before my inevitable stall hit me and I stopped working on it. I even reversed the hair color on the angels, as the groom was blonde and the bride was a brunette. I may or may not have made an error on one of the wings that made it too short on one side – I can’t remember now. It looks fine visually, anyway.

The first angel, my farthest progress.

I ended up giving the bride and groom an IOU on their gift, since it wasn’t finished, and I said I’d try to have it done by their first anniversary. An anniversary has come and gone and it’s still not done. Why? I gave up. I couldn’t work on this kit anymore. I honestly regret buying it in the first place; I know a lot of people love it but I didn’t, and I bought it anyway. I’ve never done that before, got something I didn’t like as a gift for someone else. My first experience with it! I think it’s ugly and I don’t want to give this to them as a wedding gift.

My problem is, I’ve already started stitching on it and marking on the chart (original copy, might I add). I’m a strong supporter of Save the Stash from the Trash so there’s no way I would toss the kit or get rid of it. I would give the kit away for like $1 USD or even free if not for the fact that it’s open, I’ve stitched on it, I’ve marked on the chart, I’ve changed colors, I’ve used up some of the thread by stitching it, there’s probably hoop marks on it, and I may have messed up a wing a little bit.

Who would want that? It’s a big dilemma for me. Should I just keep stitching away until it’s done and then put it away, never to see it again? Should I cave and throw it away? All I know is, I don’t want to give this away as a gift, and I don’t think I’ll find someone I think the kit is appropriate for. Nor do I like it enough to stitch it for them if I found someone appropriate for it.

UPDATE: Well, luckily I don’t need to worry about the IOU. The couple has since divorced. The question now is, do I continue the project and finish for someone else’s wedding, gift it to a fellow stitcher, throw it away, donate it to charity? I don’t know. I have yet to decide. But at least the conundrum is solved!

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Progress Report is an update on all my stitching habits, from the kits to the stitching to the finishing process and more! Right now I am featuring a Cat-Themed Rotation of three cat-themed projects, my Wolf Dream Catcher, and a few other piece.