Ok, a question, how old is your oldest UFO, not one that’s been passed on to you, but something you personally started and didn’t finish, the ubiquitous unfinished object, or UFO?

Lyre Bird c1973

This post is about mine, it’s 42 years old!!!! I know exactly how old it is having started it when I was 8 years old after winning the craft competition at the school fair with another embroidery. I came across it last year when I was sorting out my sewing room, I decided I either finished it or disposed of it, harsh I know but you haven’t seen my sewing room!

When I decided to do a monthly challenge for myself, it was fairly high up on my to-do list. As I’m about to embark on a couple of big embroidery projects, I decided to set myself the challenge of completing the Lyre Bird in February.

The story starts way back when I was 7 years old. My mum used to get the Needlewoman magazine and as an arts and crafts based primary school teacher she was always happy for us to  try something. One month a beautiful golden cockerel was on the front cover. At the time felt and embroidery pictures were quite the in thing in the craft world. I loved it. My mum suggested that I use mainly coloured embroidery silks and just outline in gold, probably thinking both of the cost of gold threads and the fact that they are not that easy to use, I was only 7 after all.

Cockerel c1972

A few months later and my cockerel was complete, I laced it over card and framed it, it still hangs in my sewing room. I entered it in the school fair completion and won 1st prize, I remember being most affronted when a teacher suggested my mum might have done most of it.

The Lyre Bird embroidery appeared in the magazine soon after. I’ve just googled Needlewoman Magazine and there is a copy of the actual issue!!! Again it was mainly gold embroidery.  I chose my embroidery silks and started embroidering. I loved the tail, using a different colour for each plume.

Once I started on the couching, I think I started to get a bit bored as that’s as far as it got. When I looked at it there isn’t actually much to do, two legs and a bit of couching on the tail and maybe around the body. I was so close to finishing it when I gave up! It has sat in my workbox ever since!!

This month I’m going to finish it and take both of them down to the picture framers on Otley market to get them framed properly. I will then hang them with pride in my sewing room.

Lyre Bird c1973