Forever Friends - Bathtime

Ta-da! Finally, it's done! Yay! Took me about 2 years to finish this piece. Yes, you've read that correctly and no, I'm not kidding about that. I bought this kit in November 2003 when I was in Melbourne, Australia and had started it immediately but even though I had been cross stitching for a number of years, my stitching experience was still pretty limitted. And here are the reasons it took me so long to finish my first Forever Friends Bear:

First off, the smallest count I've stitched on up until then was 14 count so the 16 count cream aida that came with the kit took quite a bit of getting used to. Secondly, the colour of the bear, the tub and the fabric was quite similar not to mention the colour shadings in between which provides an even bigger challenge. Lastly, and the main reason I've been putting off stitching on this piece is the backstitches. They run everywhere and I mean everywhere. As if that's not bad enough, the lines on the chart showing the backstitches are thick which makes it hard to determine the precise place to stitch. Try that on aida and you'd understand why I was so reluctant to pick it up again once I put it down. Just so you know, I've never been one to detest backstitch but this is too much!Yesterday, I managed to summon up the courage to start working on it once more. I've been dragging my feet on this one long enough and all that's left is just the backstitch anyway. I put a rush on it today and now it's over and done with. I've gotta say, despite all the grief the backstitch gave me, the result is tremendously satisfying. Someday... a very distant someday, I just might attempt it again but you won't see me stitching something like this in the near future. Still, Forever Friends Bears are so cute and they are my absolute favourite among all the bears like Tatty Teddy, Newton's Law, Popcorn Bear and the likes. Anyone gonna try and convince me to change my mind?