There is no particular need for me to start a new project, I’m busy and don’t have a venue. But I do have an idea, and materials. I was at a fantastic second hand textile and quilting store in Leadville, Colorado and bought a bagful of things. I also have a dress of mine from childhood. My overall image is of a clothesline piece with seven garments or hangings on it, with some hand embroidery and some commercial (or machine, but I need to find someone who can do that).
Questions:
1. Will it be emotionally satisfying or creepy to finish a piece someone else left undone?
2. Do I dry clean pieces AFTER I finish the embroidery? If so, does this destroy the ink pattern?
3. The piece is partially about my synesthesia, my lifelong ongoing hallucination of the days of the week as colors and as actual people. There are seven pieces. Does each need to be a day of the week?
4. Is there another word for “weekly”?
I love the hole in this hanky!
5. Does anyone know how to do machine embroidery?
Any other suggestions?
Miriam's Well: Poetry, Land Art, and Beyond 
In my experience, it is creepy to finish someone else’s work unless you know the person. I have made pieces from old handkerchiefs, tablecloths, napkins, etc. They tend not to hold up all that well. Tears and weakness in the fabric as I worked or soon after were common, so be aware.
Linda–thank you–I appreciate your wealth of experience. Seems to me the piece will have a disintegrating element of necessity, so the subject should match up–it can’t be about preserving beauty, I don’t think.
4
weekly is every 7 days no synonym…we have a bunch of dish towels etc that Teresa’s grandmothers did..by hand of course..just put them in the washer..how complicated are your designs?
I keep thinking there must be another word but maybe it is in French! Simple designs.
Neat project, Miriam! There’s something so poignant about the unfinished ones. . . . And . . . semi-fortnightly?
Hannah–I love the word fortnight. Yes, the unfinished ones should probably stay that way, maybe just with text added or a few stitches…
Nice project! I like the idea of matching your sysesthesia days of the weeks with the pieces, since you have 7.
I’ve done my share of embroidery, text embroidery and machine embroidery (look back in my posts and you’ll see them). There are some pretty reasonably priced machines out there, but the really expensive thing is the software (machine for $300, software for 10,000). Most come with monogram style text (3 letters) and cutsey pictures. You can order more files. Some come with software that lets you do basic arrangement and more text, much cheaper. Once you figure out the settings and fabric and everything they get pretty easy, but there is a learning curve for some things. If you are near a Techshop they might have one you can take a class on and play with (and better, they have that expensive software for you to use!). Instrucibles also has how-tos on machine embroidery. Good luck!