We have a running joke at the shop. Donna, who manages our inventory, insists on a two-week turn-around policy on samples for the shop. Jane (the owner) and I are not so good about following that policy. As a matter of fact, Donna likes to say (to everyone) that we never finish anything. At Christmas time, Jane made this gorgeous topiary and left it at the register to be a constant reminder to Donna that she does, in fact, finish things.

December must be as good as January for resolution because I decided that I needed to assert my ability to finish things. In keeping with our "never finish anything" squabble, I found a pillow embroidered with "I never finish anythi." Perfect!

I quickly managed to finish the embroidery portion of the work. As soon as I finished it, I set it down on a table at my friend Sandra's house and left it behind. She let me know she had it, and mused that maybe this is why I never finish anything. I picked it up the next month, and set it aside to finish.

By this point, I was knee-deep in preparation for my April wedding. So, it continued to be set aside--probably 10 different places. With the wedding joyfully complete, I finally felt like working on something creative. Actually, what I felt like doing was finishing something. The "I never finish anythi" pillow popped into my head. It was sooo ready for finishing.

I set up the ironing board, cleared off my sewing table and went looking for the pillow stitchery. I checked where I thought I'd left it. It wasn't there. I checked another pile. It wasn't there either. I ripped apart my sewing room and my guest room looking for it. 45 minutes later I gave up, laughing that yet again this may explain why I never finish anything.

I was determined, though. I was going to finish this pillow. So, I printed out the design again, and went to re-trace. I had set some Kona Snow on the ironing board when I was setting up, so I grabbed that to cut it into the right size. Guess what was mixed in with the fabric? Yup, I found the finished stitchery.

With my determination re-energized, I added borders and the back to the stitchery. I stood up to turn it inside out, only to realize that I had sewn the stitchery on inside-out. Part of me really wanted to leave it that way. I mean, it would have been perfect. But, I knew it wouldn't last. So, I took my trusty best friend, and ripped those seams right out.

More determined than ever, I re-pinned back and front -- double-checking to make sure that I had RIGHT sides together. When it was complete, I actually said, "Ta-da!" to my dog, Toto. He didn't seem that impressed, but, some days all you really need is to actually finish something, and I did! Now it will live at the shop to be a source of laughter and inspiration to all who can relate.

Have you ever had a project like this? That just seemed to not want to be completed? What was it? We'd love to hear about it! Did you ever finish it, or did you give up and move on to something else?