You may remember last year I was excited to start a 365 embroidery wheel. I read 365 Days of Stitches and was inspired to start my own project, recording every day of the year in stitch.

Reader, I failed.

Why I failed to complete a 365 embroidery wheel

I bought a large wooden embroidery hoop.

I prepared a fabric wheel divided into 12 parts.

I pondered which colourways I would use (and swiftly abandoned that idea).

I kept a note each day of the motif I would stitch, just in case I couldn’t remember what it meant.

I photographed each motif and added it to my Instagram Stories.

By the end of one month I felt burnt out.

So, why did I fail with my 365 project? I’m one of those people who prefer to have several small projects on the go. At the moment I have my Liberty tumbling blocks, as well as an embroidery hoop on the go. I always have a list of sewing projects I want to make and the 365 project felt like a weight around my neck.

To be honest most days are the same – kids, work, dog walks, cooking. These are not fun things to embroider and I felt like I was running out of ideas. Perhaps I should have tried a theme for the project – colour of tea, how many miles walked with the dog, or pages of a book read?

My life just does not feel interesting enough for a 365 days hoop project, and I would much rather concentrate on the projects which bring me joy, rather than the ones that don’t.

So for now I have a bizarre embroidery hoop with one section completed out of 12. I was thinking of unpicking the embroideries but I so rarely fail to complete a project that I’m keeping it for now.