"Pick Me, Pick Me" - Friday Finish

Little S's cross-stitch birth announcement was my oldest UFO/WIP/PHD.  Whatever I called it, it still wasn't finished after 19 years.

Since I don't watch TV, there wasn't a time to just sit and work on it, so I called it my travel project.  But then I traveled less and less and was nervous to take a needle and scissors when I flew.  Now my eye sight is not what it used to be.  

All the pieces are ready to go!

But.... it kept showing up on the PHD list with a "pick me, pick me" look!  I did not want Little S to have to finish it herself.  That would be the ultimate disgrace - not only did it take me 19 years to finish, but she had to do the finishing.

So... on a slow weekend I turned on my really bright Ott light, put in eye drops, and got to work.  It turns out that the personalization was already gridded and there were only two sections where the backstitching had not been finished.  I told myself I could do one of those parts each day and I'd be done in a week.

Before

Then a nice thunderstorm rolled in, which was very welcome since we haven't had rain in about a month.  So I stayed in the groove and got all but one of the backstitching sections finished.  That even included restitching two of the personalization sections.  It turns out that my initial stitching was less than accurate, so that made the spacing not quite right.  But I made it work.

Finally Finished!!

It is far from perfect, but I am pleased.  My new goal is to get it framed before the end of summer.