It was a version of the Ra pectoral - very pretty. The materials supplied with the kit were cotton floss for the main element and white wool yarn for the background.
I started it with the supplied floss just using basketweave and didn't like it, so I ripped it out and set it aside. Somtime in the mid 1980s I pulled it out and tried stitching it with some fancy stitches, didn't like the results so I ripped it out and put the project back in storage. I kept coming up with new ideas, trying them out, ripping them out, and putting it away. Somewhere along the way I bought all new floss.
A few years back when looking at thread on Ebay I found some Chinese silk with metallics spun into the floss. I ordered it and tried it on the Ra piece - with just a basic basketweave it looks like a beaded prioject! I plugged away at it for a couple of years and in the summer of 2012 while recovering from my knee replacements, I finished the background.
So I'm at about 35 years, too. Except that although the stitching is complete, the project isn't. I still have the rolled up canvas in a box with other pieces that need to be framed, made into something, or thrown away. That big tote is getting full, so I need to spend a year just doing finishing!
= new reply since forum marked as read