Aren't we all a work in progress?

I mentioned in my 2013 goals post that one of my goals is to finish my three outstanding works in progress- 2 embroidery, one sewing. Want a sneak peak of what I'm working on?

First there's a freestyle embroidery hoop. I plan to fill this with more and more stitched doodles, until I have as much of the hoop is filled as I can (at least, until I reach a point where it seems "done"), then hang it permanently in a hoop (probably a wooden one, not the plastic one it's in now). I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I started working on this in the summer... early summer... and I haven't really made any progress since. In fact, in between my work on Beauty & the Beast, and my month long trip to North America, I didn't get a lot of my own work done in the second half of 2012- I'm working to fix that now. To be honest, I'd pretty much forgotten this thing existed, until we were clearing out our spare room.

The embroidery hoop is the WIP that's furthest from completion, by a mile. But once I finish the shoes below, I hope to work on it while I'm watching TV, and start to make some real progress. I love freestyle embroidery- just picking whatever colour floss seems to fit at the time, and trying to keep the designs mixed up- variety is key here.

The second WIP I have on the go is a set of quilted cushions. I originally began these as a way to practice free motion quilting before I tried it on my Joel Dewberry Modern Meadows quilt- I finished the quilting of two cushions, and actually completed one of the cushions in its entirety (including self-covered buttons!), but never got around to finishing the second. This is the easiest WIP to finish off- just stitch up the sides, stuff it with a cushion insert, then stitch up the opening and add the buttons. I just need to plug in my sewing machine, thread up some white cotton, and get it started. Maybe I'll do that after I finish this post.

The last project is, to my mind, the most ambitious and probably the most impressive. I've been working on a pair of stitched plimsolls, as a sort of trial. I bought cheap white plimsolls (£7 from ASDA, if I remember correctly), and much like the embroidered hoop, just started stitching. My technique is to cut lengths of floss at about the same length each time, then just stitch until I run out, before moving onto another colour. For the shoes, I've used slightly longer threads, usually 4 ply rather than the 2 or 3 of the hoop.

The trial element of these is three fold: I'm not sure how comfortable they'll be to wear (as I've sometimes used knots to secure the thread [I know! It's terrible and I should do it "properly", but whatever. Rules are for fools.]); and I'm not sure how well the threads themselves will wear, with the friction of a foot inside the shoe. I've stitched right the way through the shoe, so the "back" of the work is on the inside of the shoe, right where the foot will go. I've deliberately not stitched the heel panel on each shoe, as that's generally where my shoes (and I presume everyone else's?) wear away first. On top of all that, there's of course the problem of trying to keep the shoes clean- they're definitely a dry day pair of shoes.

The shoes are the WIP I'm most excited to have finished. I've completely one shoe, but there's still 1.5 sides to the second show to go. Having to push the needle through thick, rigid canvas takes its toll, it's not the sort of project I can work on easily for hours at a time. Regardless, I'm determined to get it finished. I'll post about each of the projects once I finish them off.

Do you have any WIPs hidden away in the back of the closet, waiting to be finished off?