Patience or Procrastination?
I am a very task-oriented person by nature. If I start something, I’m going to finish. I have to finish, otherwise it will drive me crazy. But sometimes, it’s the starting that trips me up.
Last week, I finally got around to starting a project I’ve had on hold for over 30 years. That’s right . . . 30 YEARS! Thirty-two to be precise.
The summer after I graduated from high school, I got a job working in a little tourist town called Solvang about 30 minutes away from where I grew up in California. This is Danish community with fun little shops that harken back to their forebears in Copenhagen. Having picked up cross-stitching a few years before, I was excited to get a part-time job in a needlework store. This family-owned store was wonderful. I worked mostly with the grandmother of the family who was eager to give me tips and tricks to put to use in my own stitching. She taught me how to separate my threads so they would lay smooth, how to stich over two threads on linen, and how to use two hands instead of one. Because of working with her, my girlish hobby became a lifetime passion.
While working there, I enjoyed looking through all the patterns and kits the shop offered for sale. But there was one kit that captured my heart the first moment I laid eyes on it. It was from the imported section. The expensive kits. All summer I looked at that kit, dreaming of making it mine. So I saved up my money, and before I left for college, I bought it.
Sweethearts – by Eva Rosenstand.
Can you tell I’ve loved historical romance my entire life? Even at age 18, I couldn’t resist a pair of young Victorian sweethearts.
This kit came with imported linen fabric and was larger than any project I’d worked on before. The finished design would be roughly 24″ x 18″. I worried my novice needle skills wouldn’t do it justice. So I packed it away, promising myself to stitch it when my skills had matured.
As I went through life, I would occasionally think about this kit, languishing away at the top of my closet. I knew exactly where I would hang it in my house when it was finished. But I still didn’t start it.
Then a month ago I finally pulled it out. I had several large projects that I was looking forward to starting, but they could take years to finish, and I worried that if I didn’t start my Sweethearts pattern now, I might loose my eyesight before I got around to it. And I couldn’t break my younger self’s heart like that. Not after all she had sacrificed to buy it.
The price tag was still on the kit – $87.90. A king’s ransom for an 18 year old back in 1989. Shoot, it’s still a lot of money today.
Well, I’m excited to tell you that my patience has paid off or my procrastination has finally come to an end. I’m not sure which is more accurate. The kit has been opened, the linen ironed and edged, the floss organized onto bobbins, and the first stitches placed.
Because this kit is over 30 years old, I discovered that the white thread that had been included had yellowed in several places. Thankfully, I had a stock of white thread from my own supply ready to substitute.
I have now officially begun, so hopefully my task-oriented spirit will carry me through to completion.
Do you have a project waiting for your attention that you are having a hard time starting?
