Fractal Tiger...The Aftermath

As promised, here's a picture of Fractal Tiger after I unstitched all my progress and changed fabrics:

Fractal Tiger...now on an unknown 28ct pewter fabric

Here's what it looked like before I undid everything:

 

On the original 14ct Black Aida

Long story short, I thought that by stitching this project on black fabric, I could somehow omit the million or so skeins of black floss and just allow the fabric to act as the background.

Yeah. Not so much. It didn't occur to me in the beginning that the background seeped in to the pattern itself here and there. Trying to stitch the dark blues and greys on black fabric and then looking back at the squares I'd "missed", only to find that they were meant to stay black and that I hadn't really "missed" anything, was making me want to run into the street, screaming and throwing things. 

I got through the better part of the top of the first two columns, minus the black of course, and was ready to rip this particular project to shreds. I felt like I was getting nowhere and there is no worse motivator for completing a project than to feel like you're stitching like mad and making no progress.

Hence, the change of fabrics. I've decided that stitching all that background may be boring, but also necessary. Also, changing to a lighter fabric is no longer making me feel like my eyes are working overtime to differentiate the navy from the charcoal. I should enjoy stitching...not have to search out the bottle of ibuprofen when I'm finished for the night. 

I have two more nights of stitching on this rotation and I don't even know that I'll get the first column done, but I'm determined not to give up on this one. I'm sure the finished project will be worth it! I hope y'all are having an easier stitching week than I have been. Another update to come at the end of the rotation on Thursday :)