I cannot count my day complete
'Til needle, thread and fabric meet.
~Author Unknown

Sharing a common thread with those who love the art of hand embroidery

Sunday, April 12, 2009

He's Not Done With Me Yet

Sometimes when I am hunting for embroidered linens, I buy the piece because of the perfect stitches and color. However, this one piece I bought was not for the stitches, but because of the design. I often hunt for vintage designs that I can duplicate and offer on new linens. Giving my work the charm of "Yesteryear".
A little over a year ago, I found this nice size tablecloth draped over a baby crib in a junk store. The owner pretty much gave it to me. The fabric is in mint condition and has never been used. It has only been slightly embroidered. I bought it to duplicate the design and to also finish the embroidery. The existing embroidery is pretty...however, I felt I wanted to do more to it.
This is how the flower looked previously embroidered. I removed the stitching.....

and embroidered it the way I would like it. I usually don't remove previous stitching unless there is not much on the piece.


The colors and the stitching is nice on this, however, once again I removed these stitches .....



and embroidered it this way.




As you can see, there is still so much on this piece just waiting to be worked on. As I was working with this cloth... I thought how much I was like this cloth. I have a fairly good design and at one time, my colors were vibrant and shiny. Now my colors have faded, some of my threads have come unraveled. Some of the stitching in my life has been done in haste, without much thought put into it. Thus showing my flaws to the whole world.





But even after all of these years... God is not finished with me yet. Oh, how I need Him to touch me and bring my light and shine back! How I need Him to fix my broken threads. Every day a new stitch is put in place in my life. Sometimes I wonder why did He put that stitch there.....is He sure? Sometimes, I need that thread removed and I can't do it without His expert hands. I look back on the tapestry of my life and I see so many of my improper stitches and it makes me want to do it better the next time around. Then there are the extras...a bright bead or two here or there when at the time, I did my best. What will this tapestry look like when my last breath and stitch is done? Will it be only half way finished with so much more left that I should have seen? Or will it be so full that not one more stitch can be placed? How about you? Have you ever felt this way? I would love to hear!







11 comments:

Anonymous said...

i think your stitches and colour choices are really nice.

Childers Corner said...

That made me teary eyed! I have a few stitches that need to be redone too. The colors you are using are beautiful!

rustycupboard said...

wow I am impressed. I love to embroidery but never thought of taking out what was already done and doing it over. I have purchased several pieces that were partly done. Great work
Helen

papel1 said...

I too have purchased a few unfinished embroidery pieces and maybe I should finish them. Your work is always inspiring as your "words"
Judy

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful piece!
I love the parts that you have redone~ I really think that it adds to the piece!
Thanks so much for such a wonderful post, it's always so exciting to me to know that God isn't finished with me yet and that He can mend the improper or ugly stitches of my life!
I am so glad that God doesn't ever give up on us!
Wishing you a most blessed day!
What a blessing you are!!

Brenda Kay Ledford said...

Kathleen:
Your embroidery is beautiful. My mother used to do embroidery and placed the beautiful scarves on the coffee table, and arms of chairs in our living room. You've done some beautiful work.
We are all a work in progress. God isn't finished with us yet. We are each day becoming more like what His plans are for our lives. God isn't through with us yet. Our names are written on the palms of His hands. We are special to Him.

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

I saw a story one time that had the holes in the tapestries of our lives forming the face of Jesus. I like to think that. For sure there are places in mine that I haven't done such a good job.

Gina E. said...

Your stitching is so much neater than the original (with apologies to the original embroideress!). My vintage UFOs come into two categories: so beautifully stitched that I could never match their standard, or so badly done that I'm itching to rip it out and start again!

Unknown said...

I too have found unfinished old pieces and finished them....I think your choice of colors and stitches adds so much.......

Pam said...

It is wonderful to know that God is there with us- on my own I haven't done so good! I'm so thankful for His love and grace, and that He isn't finished with us yet!
Blessings,
Pam

Princess S said...

I love that He lets me stitch away and make a mess and when I finally give in and tell Him I can't do it anymore, HE will take my mess and turn it into a Masterpiece.