Castle in the Air Part 23

It's done! I can't believe that after 3 years, Castle in the Air is finished... well almost. There is still a lot of beading left to do, but I'm not going to do that now or any time soon (maybe in another 3 years lol)

For part 23, I made some slight modifications. I decided not to stitch the castle that is supposed to go at the top.

Top

I also swapped out the floral version for the fantasy one. I love the dragonfly and delicate flower bushes.

Middle

The bottom part is exactly the same as the top one, but a mirror image of it.

Bottom

And here it is without the grid. It took me 3 hours and a half to take it all out (almost as much time as it took me to put it in). The reason for that is because my needle had split the thread in a few sections and I had to be more careful pulling it out without disturbing my stitches. I will have to rethink my gridding technique for next time.

I've already started preparing my next project. I'll put up a post later on what it is :)

My First HAED Stash

I promised yesterday to show off what I bought from HAED. I ended up buying four charts at just to even things out ;)

Stolen in Her Sleep by Selina Fenech

12 Dancing Princesses by Kinuko Y. Craft Arts

Turandot by Kinuko Y. Craft Arts

Sister Moon by Aimee Stewart

I didn't notice until after I lined them up on one page that all the patterns I picked are kind of dark. Oh well! Anyways, not sure when I will start any of these, but if I did I want to start with Stolen in Her Sleep. I love this pattern. The first time I saw it was a few years ago. It took me a few looks before I realized that the background was actually gnomes that were carrying the girl away. I like the contrast with her white dress.

St-Jean Baptist Long Weekend

Just came back to work after the long weekend. The weather was terrible so I got a lot of stitching time. Unfortunately I didn't finish the last part of Castle in the Air as I hoped I would. But I did work on it. It's about 80% done. I just got bored with the colors and felt like working on something else.

So I worked on Bramble and the Rose instead :)

Before

After

It doesn't look like a lot, but when you compare it to the last picture I took, you can see some progress.

P.S. I got also got some stash today from Heaven and Earth. They're having a 50% sale for the summer solstice that ends today. I just couldn't pass it up. More on that later ;)

Castle in the Air Part 22

Part before last. These would make very nice biscornus or pinkeeps.


I already started the last part, with the long weekend (St-Jean Baptiste here in Quebec) I hope I can finish it.

Castle in the Air Part 21

I feel very motivated to finish this now that the end is near :)

This is the last garden scene (sorry the picture is kind of blurry):

Two more parts left and then I can take a very deserved break before the beading starts.

I also went to Finnegan's Market again and found these: a tiny hook and an awl with ivory handle. Both are very old and were being sold as a packaged deal in a sewing basket with other sewing thread. The owner was kind enough to sell me only these two for $2.

Castle in the Air Part 20

So many Algerian eyelets! I hope I won't have to do any for a long while. The piece itself was very quick to stitch. But those Algerian eyelets, I thought I would never finish.

Next up is the last garden scene.

More Updates

I've had a good week. I got a lot of work done on Bramble and the Rose. It's relaxing to cross stitch without having to constantly re-thread to change colors.

I also finished part 19 of Castle in the Air. With this completed I now have 4 more parts left and all that will be left is the beading.

June TUSAL

This month's report is much better :) Here, there is thread from Rukia, Castle in the Air part 16, 17, 18 and 19, as well as Bramble and the Rose. All in all a VERY productive month ^_^.

Chibi Rukia Finished!

I've been very bad at posting updates of Rukia. It actually looked like this on Friday:

By this evening, it was finished. I made fast work of it. Every time I got to a stopping point, I just kept pulling out the next color and I didn't end up stopping at all :P.

That's one project finished, I'm now down at 3 WIPs. Now I have to decide if I can start a new project or if I should wait. Hmmm, decisions, decisions.

I also went to Finnegan's Market on Saturday. I found more small bowls to use. Aren't they cute?