What it was:
What that became:
As it is now:
.
I’ve already been complaining about this on FB, but I figured why not spread my misery? That verse is centered properly left to right (I know it may not look it because of the vine border, but is is centered on the upper & lower strawberry vines). Which brings me to my problem: There is too much space between the bottom of the verse and the lower strawberry vine. What should I do? There is a ton of sampler left to stitch under this (this piece is And They Sinned in case anyone didn’t know). I cannot continue on until I make a decision here and do any ripping and re-stitching.
1. If I do add a little line of zig-zag or something under the verse is it going to throw off the symmetry of the verse block?
2. If I leave that space empty will it add to the charm of the piece or end up looking like a lazy mistake?
3. Should I put something under GOD? I was toying with a. snake b. infinity c. alpha omega d. underline it?
Opinions? Thoughts? Any suggestions that I haven’t thought of?
deepinsidemissy 
I like your second version much better than the first, but I do see the spacing you mean. If it were me, I would rip out the bottom vine and move it up, although I hate to suggest it because of all the work you’ve already done. Perhaps you could Photoshop the vine higher to start with, to see if you like the spacing any better? If you don’t want to rip, the zigzag line might be the way to go – again I would PS something in before you stitch anything. I like the idea of stitching something under God – the snake might work or a simple line, but offsetting the crosses like this:
x x x
x x x
OK, that looks crap, there wouldn’t be a gap between the two lines, just one line of crosses every other stitch and then another line below with the crosses in the gaps. Clear as mud? Good luck with whatever you decide.
Hmm, the little diagram didn’t work at all in the published version – just ignore!
I loved the quote you used!
I didn’t even notice the extra space until you pointed it out! If it were me, I’d just leave it as it is! I’m lazy though and will do anything possible to fudge mistakes.
If its really going to bother you, you might do a zig zag or some cross stitches (spaced out) in that space, then do the same thing under the word “God,” to kind of tie it together.
hmmm, I really didn’t notice the spacing too much myself. I like Holly’s suggestion about some cross stitches spaced out (two or three spaced in between) to fill that in.
I hardly noticed it. Another vote for leave it. But I am the laziest stitcher on earth.
Apparently, I suck at math!
I do like version #2 of the verse…the font and spacing look great! I didn’t even notice the issue with the top/bottom spacing until you mentioned it. What a pain in the a** to frog it. I like Holly’s idea and would try that first before ripping it out one more time. Who knows…you might like it!
I like the idea of an infinity symbol under God. I like the idea of A&O better, but I think it might “fight” with the word God (More letters…)
I agree with the previous commenters–throw in a few “filler” stitches and call it done! 🙂
I see what you mean about the spacing and it would bother me personally. I’m not keen on throwing off the symmetry by adding in a random line.
I assume moving the vines up would throw off the alignment of the border for the rest of the piece?
What do you think would happen if you moved the owls on the last line down a couple stitches? While they wouldn’t be aligned with the wording, they would fill in a bit of the empty space and may give a bit of illusion of old-style manuscripting with decorative doo-dads. Not sure if this would work or not.
Hey, Missy! What if rather than frog the whole vine and berries, you just frogged 3 or so berries – added a few stitches to their stems and then put them back in. That would push the berries more into the empty space and perhaps that would eliminate (sort of) the empty space; or it just wouldn’t be so noticeable. Just a thought – I’ll do anything to avoid frogging but I’m not sure I like the idea of another row of anything above them as filler. We’ll be watching to see what you do!!!!
I didn’t notice the spacing until you pointed it out. So my vote would be to leave it as is. Unless, it would drive you bonkers. In which case I’d probably restitch. But that’s me. If something bothers me, I have to fix it. A zigzag stitch would look odd I think. I love the snake idea!
Hmmm… well I didn’t notice the extra space until you pointed it out – I seriously doubt anyone else will notice. I guess it boils down to how much it bugs you.
I’m lazy too – so I probably wouldn’t frog anything – I hate frogging – messes with my mojo. I’ll add 10 things to avoid frogging 1. If I could find something that I thought didn’t look out of place I might add it under the verse to fill the space. I don’t like the idea of just cross stitches or a zig zag, but something like herringbone stitch might work. Look through whatever resources you have for specialty stitches and see if you can find something that you can fit nicely into the space. A row of rhodes, jessicas, eyelets might all look good too, though this piece seems to have more of a ‘herringbone’ feel to it to me.
Oh for under God – I like the infinity symbol idea – I agree that A&O would probably compete with the other letters. I don’t think an underline would really look bad – but it seems just sort of meh to me.
Anyway, just my opinions (are you sorry you asked?) – Feel free to dismiss any of the above as just “that whacked out lady who sometimes comments on my blog”!
Will it fit side to side between the two words on either side?? Maybe just move it down a tiny bit .. or maybe offset the letters a little bit? It looks amazing regardless of what you decide to do!! YGG!!!
I vote with the lazy stitchers, being one of them myself. I didn’t notice it till you pointed it out. If it’s going to bother you, though, and after all–it is a masterpiece that you won’t chuck aside as you get older as you might a small sampler–then maybe do change it. Bump up the vine a bit? Maybe stitch, over one, the Biblical verse numbers that cover A&E? That way they’d be small and kind of tie in to it all and maybe fit in that space. As for the God bit, I like the idea of the snake but considering the symbolism–might not be a good thing! Maybe just underline it?
I’m liking the idea to move some of the berries up a bit – minimal frogging and it would look great!
Hmm, GOD does need something under it but I honestly didn’t notice the spacing issue under the verse until you pointed it out. If it were mine I think I would vote with the lazy stitchers on that one.
You could move the last line down a bit. It would add emphasis to the line, flow better with the owls, and minimize frogging.
I didn’t really notice the space. You could leave it… unless it bothers you! You are (presumably) the one that needs to look at the finished piece forever. Love the idea of the symbol (snake?) under GOD and also like the idea of stretching out the berries to fill the space.
On second thought… if you change the berries then it would be different from the berries on top…. How about a long thin snake under the verse?
I hate to say it, but I’d rip out that strawberry vine and move it up. But I LOVE absolutely LOVE how the verse looks now. Fabulous! And I vote snake under God…why? Because I freakin’ love snakes and one more can’t hurt. ; )
Oh, look … I’m back from obscurity also. And now you know why I decided at the beginning to make my border even. It saved me so many headaches later on, when I couldn’t stop myself from centering things. It’s that hideous OCD rearing its ugly head. Or maybe I’m just a bitch. Not sure. Good luck, and I’m sure it’ll end up being fabulous, no matter what you decide.