The toughest wood with brightest blaze will greet:
The hardest nut contains the sweetest meat;
So wisdom, gained by light of midnight oil,
Gives richest recompense to patient toil.
From Industry By Charles Eugene Banks

I came across a half-finished needlepoint canvas while looking through my tapestry wool stash. I began it over a decade ago and decided at the time that I just didn’t have it in me to finish it – much like when I started reading the 1,072-page classic, Don Quixote, and decided enough was enough and put it back on the shelf.

After examining the needlepoint canvas further and determining that I had just enough wool to complete it, I resolved to push through and finish it. It took me just over a month of incessant work. It is, hands down, my favorite needlepoint piece to date. I sewed it into a pillow using silk fabric backing and velvet piping from Chennai and wool stuffing from a sheep farm in Pennsylvania. I love it and it was well worth the effort!