BIG Framing News!

 Deep Peace is finally framed!

And it only took me twelve years to do it!

I couldn't believe it when I looked at the date on this one. It was 2012!

This was definitely the hardest thing I have ever framed. The weird size made it impossible to find a frame! I wanted it to be gold, to pick up the gold in the pattern. I know I could have brought it to a professional framer, but it wasn't in the budget, and frankly, I just didn't like any of the modern frames. 

I finally found what I thought was the perfect frame at an estate sale. When I got it home however, it turned out to be way too big. I decided to use it anyway, and get a mat. That in itself was hard to figure out because the mat had to be uneven in the top from the sides. Finally, I decided on the color and style, and prayed I got the measurements right!

Yes! Hurray! The size worked out perfectly! By the way, a big shout out to Matboards & More for their great communication.

The frame was not perfect, and most certainly, the framer was not perfect, but at long last, here is Deep Peace:

Deep Peace - Forget-Me-Nots in Stitches Lauren Sauer 1998

If you would like to read more about Deep Peace, click on the link on the right-hand side of the page. It took up a lot of 2012. It was my first time working with real gold, and it was not without its challenges!

I am so glad to have this finally framed!

Now, for some much less dramatic news, I also got the Gaelic Alphabet Sampler framed. This was a much easier task in comparison. I was a little disappointed with the frame. It turned out, it was made of paper, rather than the wood, as advertised on Amazon, but it worked out ok.

The Gaelic Alphabet Sampler

Well, that's all I've got for now. Be back soon!

Seraphina is Stitched!

 Yay!

I still have to turn her into an ornament. She came out a little on the large size for an ornament. I may turn her into a little pillow.

I love her little upturned nose!

It turns out there are two versions of this little pattern. One is slightly smaller than the other. I think this is what confused me initially with the fabric size.

I think I will probably stitch the smaller version also. One of the differences is in her skates. In one version they are much smaller

I made a little progress on Painted Flowers, though I am finding it very difficult to stitch on the 20 ct black aida. I am skipping over some areas that called for some DMC colors I don't have. I really thought I had all the DMC by now, but there are some new colors out there, and this chart calls for 3 of them.

This is what I have so far:

Not very much, I'm afraid.

Well, I do have some big framing news, but I will save that for a separate post.

Hope all of you are having a very pleasant, peaceful Sunday!

I'll Start with the Good News. . .

I stitched Easter Basket, and finished it without any issues! This was from the Easter Parade chart from Blackbird Designs. I stitched the rabbit some years ago.

Here is how it came out:

Easter Basket by Blackbird Designs
Stitched on 36 ct linen using GAST threads

Of course I still need to find a frame for it. I think if I stitched it again, I might change the colors a bit.

Well, after that, my thinking was that I would fit in a little Christmas ornament before I started a larger project. That is where my troubles began!

I chose Seraphina. This is an oldie that I have had in my stash for a while. The actual chart I had was for a Christmas card.

I have thought about this one for some time. I decided to swop out the aida for 32 ct linen, and the color of her coat from green to red.

Somehow I stupidly miscalculated the size of the linen needed. I didn't realize it until I had half of it stitched! I don't know what I was thinking! Then I realized that the white on her muff and eventually her hat, really didn't show up against the white linen. So I decided to stitch the fuzzy parts with Wisper (Rainbow Gallery). This isn't the easiest to use. You have to keep the lengths short because it frays a lot. I finished the muff, but it doesn't look the way I thought it would. It seems rather worn, rather than the fluffy look I was going for. I don't know whether to frog it or not. Maybe I should just quit, and start again on another color linen. Maybe the third time is the charm! LOL! 

What do you think?

I have stitched some very large, complicated projects that didn't cause me anywhere near the frustration that this little one has!

Okay, concurrently while I was stitching Seraphina, I was also trying to frame a large project that I finished years ago. Finally decided on a frame, even though it was really too big for it. That meant getting a mat. OMG that took me hours to select, and I only pray that I got the dimensions right! I bought it online, and it was expensive!

This is my year of finishing, and stitching from stash, but I did cave into temptation on one chart I have had my eye on.

This came in the mail today.

It is Painted Flowers from Shakespeare's Peddler. I procrastinated as long as I did because it calls for 40 count black linen. For some reason this is not available anywhere! Also, I don't think my poor eyes could handle it! I have ordered some 20ct black aida. I hope this will have a similar enough look to the linen, but I am worried about it. The other choice would be to try to find 20ct black linen, and stitch one over one. I didn't know if the linen would hold up to that.

I will pop back in a few days to let you know my progress.