2013 Cross Stitch Portrait -- Finally!

I can't believe we're already coming up on the end of April and not only have I zero completed quilts to show for 2014, I'm only now finishing the 2013 cross stitch portrait I had hoped to finish in January! Like everything else I'm working on right now, there's nothing complex about the pattern, or the process, I just haven't been able to set aside enough time to do much of anything!

Although I plan out the stitches for the people, I tend to just freehand the numbers -- and this year, I was a little closer to the heads than I had hoped. Unfortunately, by the time I realizes that, I was pretty dedicated to the plan and just went with it. Yes, I could have grabbed my trusty seam ripper and taken the stitches out even though they were a little too wound together to un-stitch, but the orange thread left a little bit of color behind, and I didn't really want to deal with all those slightly orange dots and paths. I also figure no one else will be quite as critical towards it as me, so if I can live with it, it should be just fine. But next year I hope to be a little smarter about it.

Getting a photo of all four portraits together was a struggle. Between the glare from the flash (even when I dampened it) and the glare from the lights in the room, this is the best I was able to get.

Overall, I'm not displeased with it - but I wish I'd paid more attention to the lack of contrast between the cat and 'my' outfit. On paper and in my plots, it looked like enough contrast, but in reality, a little more contrast would have been better. I'm also not sold on the shorts for Greg, but he's happier that it's a more realistic representation of his usual outfit.

It might have been nice if I'd planned for things to be a little more coordinated or regular through the pieces - like our placement within the frame - but at this point, I'm also beginning to suspect that I should have just put a single large piece in a frame and added to it instead of doing each one individually. I think 2014 will be individual as well, but at that point (since I'll be out of room on the wall anyway) I'll begin thinking about starting 2015 on in a larger frame, or possibly redoing these in a larger piece.

All that said, I also kind of like the random placements. It kind of fits with how we live around here - a little wonky and a little random!

I think I'd better start the 2014 portrait in November or December, just to make sure it gets done in a more timely manner!