I'm Still Alive! Updated WIPs and Finishes

This spring has been hectic with boards, patient completion, requirements and graduation. Officially, graduation is in one week and I cannot wait. I have been stitching but not too much.

Finished!!!

Garden Party Cakes - Mirabilia (framed)

Stitched on 32 ct Imagination by Polstitches.

Promessa - Alessandra Adelaide (framed)

Stitched on 22 ct Jade by Picture This Plus
Guests at my wedding will sign the white border as the "guestbook."

Persephone - Mirabilia (unframed)

Stitched on 32 ct Lavendar by Steph's Fabbys
My all-time favorite. I can't wait til I make some money to frame this beauty.

WIP!

Queen's Farmhouse - Chatelaine

 


TTAS (Touching the Autumn Sky) - Mirabilia

Stitched on 32 ct Cotton clouds by Stephs Fabbys (I think)
I have a more updated picture somewhere, I am just not sure where. When I pack up my stuff to move, I will take a better picture.

Chatelaine: Summer Fruits - Pear

Newest acquisition: Chatelaine's summer pear. It is currently an ongoing yahoo group class, but you can buy the pattern on the European cross stitch website.

Isn't it lovely?

I am quite excited to start! I have been itching for a new start, but have instead been plowing through the Queen's Farmhouse. I think it's time for another update on that project too!

WIP: Queen's Farmhouse

I have spent quite a few hours this weekend working on Chatelaine's Queen's Farmhouse. It looks beautiful, and my tired eyes are a testament to what it's like to work on black fabric.

You can see my attempt at a Jessica stitch to the left of the center. I thought I figured it out but halfway around, I got confused as to how to connect all the points. I am going to watch a video or look at a diagram later.

Chatelaine: Queen's Farmhouse

I started the Farmhouse last week since I had all the materials, and it has been an absolute joy to stitch with silks. I love how smoothly they pass through the fabrics and the very subtle changes in color with largr stretches of the skein. It is looking beautiful, if I do say so myself. 

I think that I will work up from this center piece and work on the palace. I would assume that it is Versailles,  but I am not as well versed in French history as I'd like to be. 

Queen's Farmhouse!

My kit from the European Cross Stitch Co. has arrived for Queen's Farmhouse! Gosh it is just the most exciting thing. I haven't used Delicas beads or petite treasure braid before, so it will be a journey to say the least. I am not sure when I'll start - maybe within the next few days? Enjoy my stash pictures, I know I do!

Wrapped up, pretty and nice like a present!

My specialty fibers

My beautiful beads and tweezers? Not part of the kit.

This will be the finished project:

For those who are curious, Chatelaines can be purchased in a variety of different ways. You can download the pdfs right off the website, buy the printed chart off the site, buy everything (beads, specialty threads, fabric) but the chart as a kit or everything but the chart and fabric. 123stitch also carries Chatelaines too, but only the printed chart version. While I love 123stitch's fast and efficient service, the printed charts do not seem as desirable as the pdf, which you can enlarge and print right from your computer. Personally I prefer the downloadable version.

When you buy the pdf chart, it will usually take a few days to be emailed to you so be patient. If you decide to go with the kit, sit back and stitch something else because it will take a few weeks to get to you. It sure is worth the wait for me because I do not have to hunt everything down in different stores, both brick and mortar and online.

Newest Acquisition: Hanging Gardens of Semiramus

Today I tried something new: instead of emotional eating, I emotionally shopped. With my eyes. And my credit card. It was glorious!

 I am still waiting for my Queen's Farmhouse kit from European Cross Stitch Company, and the large mandalas can be quite intimidating, so I looked for a chart which is small enough for me to draw from my stash of fabric. I've had my eye on the hanging/walled gardens, so I chose the most colorful one: the Hanging Gardens of Semiramus by Chatelaine. I am so so SO excited! I will go rifling through my fabrics when I get home from school.

This is approximately what it will look like. I am thinking maybe working on a dark blue or light green fabric.


More images can be found at the lovely and talented Dana Oliver Smith's Chatelaine Galleries.

Egypt Garden

Latest update on Egypt Garden




As usual, substitutions for certain silks and beads were made, mostly because I don't like beading and my LNS did not have all the silks when I went to kit EG up. The only person who will know is Martina Weber and me, so I'm going to continue with the DMC substitutions. It's a lot of fun so far! I can't wait to get outside the center and work on the panels.

Egypt Garden

My modest start on Egypt Garden. It's stitched on 32 count tan jobelan.

Center: Lotus Pond

It's much easier to stitch over 1 on 32 ct for the tiny stitches than I thought it would be.

Tiny Rose Garden Update

Hello my lovelies!

I've been working hard and furiously on dental school stuff and not a whole lot on cross stitch. Life just gets in the way!

Here's an update on Chatelaine's Tiny Rose Garden, stitched on Stephanie Bishop's Honey Amber.

Looking like a garden you'd like to relax in?

 Here is my attempt at algerian eyelets. It's a lot of fun!

Stay tuned for the next progress picture. Looking forward to getting to the backstitch, as strange as that sounds.