:: May 2001 
Advice
To Finish or Not to Finish -- That is the Question
Everything I have ever read about fibrework projects stresses the importance of completing them. If you piece a quilt, add batting and backing and quilt it. If you needlepoint a Christmas stocking, back it with velvet so it can be used. If you sew a skirt, hem it so it can be worn.
Recently, I encountered an unfinished piece of fibrework in a huge antique shop that spoke to me with the opposite voice. In a small stack of old linens and handkerchiefs, I found a partially completed crossstitched scene of a cottage and flower garden. Without the pattern, I could only guess at the shapes and colors I would need to finish the picture. I bought it for $4 and took it home to think about it.
Since it was stitched on 18-count cream Aida cloth rather than an open canvas background, the existing stitches look very attractive as they are. The mystery stitcher had begun to outline the cottage with a single black thread. The unoutlined garden looks like an impressionist's work with thread for paint.
After consulting other stitchers for their ideas, I decided to leave well enough alone. For this piece of needlework, there was something poignantly fitting about leaving it as I had found it