Finished Object: Sarah Ann Wilcox Sampler

Lately I've been motivated to finish some cross-stitch projects before I begin any new ones. I'm not always successful, but after two years, I finally finished this one!

Yes, two years! Two years ago I last posted my progress here after five weeks on the Sarah Ann Wilcox reproduction sampler. This is the finished project:

I was embarrassed when I picked it back up because I realized all I had left to finish was the 1-over-1 letters at the top, half of the letters at the bottom, and the birds and sheep in the middle band. All of it, of course, was 1 over 1, which is painstaking work. That was the sole reason I let it go for so long without  finishing and I moved on to other projects 

And this is the picture of my tiny initials for the finish.

The original threads were DMC, but I switched them to over-dyed threads I bought at my LNS. This made the project MUCH more expensive but the expense was worth the result. It personalized the project and converting samplers is fairly easy. The pattern calls for using only one thread, but I prefer two threads for coverage. I needed two and sometimes three "skeins" of some of the threads.

Conversion:

Crescent Colours:                       DMC:
Cupid                                          355
Finely Gold                                676

Gentle Art: 
Nutmeg                                       780
Gold Leaf                                   434

Week's Dye Works:
Deep Sea                                    3768
Molasses                                     839
Caper                                          830
Parchment                                   Ecru
Charlotte's Pink                          3779
Mascara                                      310
Juniper                                        500