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This is very beautiful

Thank you for comments but I am afraid I gave up on this. These threads (Madeira cotton) did not lie properly & it looked very uneven stitching. The colours were beautiful & I kept persevering but after the 4 square inches I realised I was not happy with the way it looked. I have not done uneven stitching like that since I was a child.

Thought I would try to get similar DMC colours as I'm a lucky enough to have a full set - courtesy of Cross Stitch Heaven as the lady is a lot cheaper than other places & over the years for birthday & Christmas have been able to gradually add to my basic set.

The threads with the kit had no Madeira shade numbers, only 1, 2, 3 etc. up to 57. It would have been a laborious job as I keep my DMC threads in number order, not in colours, but worth having a go. When I tried to unpick what I had done it was not successful. As I did not want to carry on & end up with a 12inch square picture with the middle 4 square inches untidy I decided to call it a day. I rarely I do that as I really do not like giving up. If I stitch a wrong colour here or there that does not matter but the middle where the setting sun was looked awful & you automatically look at the sun as it draws your eye there initially.

I looked on Colray Crafts & they have lots & lots of beautiful charts & kits, Old Masters was well as others. The one sunset kit I really like is £47 & I cannot afford that at the moment. Also as it is 21 inches x 14.5 inches & a bit too big for our small home. Would have looked great when we lived in a larger place.

I was very disappointed about Ocean Sunset but it isn't worth keeping on with something if you are not happy with it. A hobby is supposed to be enjoyed not done under duress. As I have lots of other kits I really want to do &, to be honest, have enough to keep me going for several years, I decided to knuckle under & get going again. Have another kit sorted out to start, gridded & colours sorted.

Thanks for all your comments though, sorry I have no finished Sunset picture

Away for a few days but on return will post start of new one so watch this space....

Kandi

Ow never mind,
When you fancy stitching another sunset again you can just go find some beautiful charts and start again.
I hope you didn't waste too much time on this one!

So annoying when threads just don't sit right.

I've found the same with Madeira threads when I've done some of the Bothy Cut-thru designs....probably why the lighthouse I started a few years back is sitting unfinished. The textures of the threads are so soft!!

Perhaps one rainy day when you have a bit of time on your hands you could do a Floss Toss of your DMC threads and match them up...they don't have to be exact, just 'good enough' as only You will know the difference once it's finished. Certainly life's too short to get wound up about it. There are so many nice charts and designs out there!

Awww....i'm quite sad about that happening to such a promising-looking project/kit. I've never encountered such though but I guess it's right for you to say that our hobby's meant to be enjoyed...and like what they say, life is short...looking forward to seeing your new project

Thank you both. Glad I am not alone re Madeira. Somewhere in the back of my mind think I used once or twice several years ago on cards when free with mags but they were not as I would have liked them so did them again on my own Aida & DMC threads before making the cards. I had forgotten that until today.

I have thrown kit threads & chart out. I did not take a copy of the chart as it was large print on several sheets so did not need an extra copy. Where the rigging was going to go in backstitch I crossed out squares with pencil but, some others of the 4 sq inches I crossed out in biro! Silly me Mostly use pencil as it is easy to erase & when unpicked enables me to see what colours are where. Not tried to unpick a section that large before.

In 12 months or so will probably get the kit again & use my own threads. Meantime have found another lovely chart on Etsy & will buy that in a few weeks. The other one I said I liked was on Colray Crafts but today looked on Etsy This is it, more muted tones in colour

https://img1.etsystatic.com/112/0/67490 ... 3_1gwx.jpg" target="_blank" target="_blank

Found a lovely piece of cream 16 hpi Aida in my fabric stash which I think it would look good on instead of using white. This is project large too but on 16 hpi would be a few inches smaller than one on Colray.

We go away for a few days tomorrow but I will do some on new project & post it on here when we return.

Kandi

Stitching something that isn't fun is not what stitching is about. I don't think I've ever used Madeira thread, but I have some in my stash for some reason. The new chart is gorgeous. I hope that you will update us a lot when you stitch this. It reminds me of the beautiful sunsets we used to see when we vacationed on the Gulf coast of Florida.

Carole

Thanks for reply Carole. I thought some may think I was silly to give up but there again no one wants to do something laborious.

The new chart I will start this week is a Good Companions Christmas one. Not the one I originally spoke of starting, the chart with hedgehog & snowman, but different picture & is an old kit. Will definitely post regularly on that one

Kandi

I like your new chart with the boat! When you come to do that one we'll cheer you on madly!

Meanwhile the 'Good Companions' one will keep you busy! I expect that there are lots of Bright colours in it.

I have a sunset chart with a black silhouetted tree in the foreground....another 'must-do' for the future!

I am really sorry it didn't work out for this design it is lovely but you are quite right its meant to be a hobby and if you aren't happy with it there is no point in putting in the hours.

What a shame, was going to be such a lovely picture.

However, it has to be fun too. Good on you for stopping doing something you didn't like. The only thing I could suggest is that you contact the person assembling the kit & tell them why you gave up on it, so maybe they can get feedback and eventually decide to change thread type.

Regards,

Richard.

I'll echo what others (and you) have said - a hobby is meant to be enjoyable, not a chore. It's a shame that such a lovely-looking design was let down by a bad kit, and I'm sorry for your disappointment. But the new design looks lovely and I hope that will bring you a lot of enjoyment!

Thank you for your kind comments

Kandi