Aloha! This is gonna be a busy post with a blog hop, TUSAL, FFVII squee-age, and whatever else pops into my head!
First up, September TUSAL, sporting another Calvin & Hobbes cover!
Most of the additions were black. Lots of black. All squished down. :D If you're doing the TUSAL, don't forget to link back to it on Daffycat's blog! Like I have been doing, whoops. :)
Nextly, blog hop #8! I've missed having these, haha.
I found this piece in a thrift store back in 2010 with the border and a bit of the background started. All of the floss was included in little floss-a-way baggies and the pattern was in pretty decent shape. It smelled horrible. I had to wash it at least twice because I was nearly overwhelmed with cigarettes. Admittedly, I purchased it mind of picking out all the stitches and using the fabric for something else. My mother saw it though and really liked it, so I decided to finish it up. I am glad I did because it was so much fun to stitch! My absolute favorite part was that little brown pot on the left. It was also the first piece I ever stitched on a floor stand and that may have contributed to the love, haha. It's so much easier to stitch using both hands.
Visit all the blogs in this round of the Stitching the Night Away Stitching Blogger Blog Hop:
Find the instructions on how to participate in this round by clicking here.
Lastly, lastly....!! IT IS TRULY FINISHED. It even gets the Super Special "finish" label!
And then sadness. I washed it and while there was no bleeding (thank goodness!), the creases will not iron out! Argh. I may have to block it or perhaps someone can suggest some sort of magic to get those darn things out. I totally feel Annie's (via The Crafty Pixie) frustration over stubborn wrinkles.
Technical Details
Lessons Learned
(hopefully)
I probably should've used a bigger piece of fabric... Oops. It will make framing interesting, I suspect. As for framing, I am not even going to attempt these guys. I'm taking them to a local framer where I can spend a few hours hashing out matte, glass, and frame preferences and then watch them suffer with my lack of fabric on the sides. I'm really a huge fan of the framing done by Jill at Rensel Studio but I don't think I can afford her, haha. Such fantastic work though!
Oh, and I actually washed FFVIII. Yes. With all those reds. I sort of cheated though. I fished out the colors in the chart and stitched them on a little scrap of fabric and then washed the little scrap. Nothing happened on the scrap so I figured I'd be safe washing the big piece, but let me tell you, I held my breath as I submerged that in the sink, ahahaha. It really, really needed a wash after being on the stand for five months and then a drawer for a year. It turned out sublime so this is a deliriously happy post instead of a woebegone gloomy post.
I think I'm (finally) typed out! I hope you enjoyed (or at least had tolerated amusement at) my very excited excitement. I hope you have productive fingers in the next week as well!
First up, September TUSAL, sporting another Calvin & Hobbes cover!
 |
| September TUSAL |
Most of the additions were black. Lots of black. All squished down. :D If you're doing the TUSAL, don't forget to link back to it on Daffycat's blog! Like I have been doing, whoops. :)
Nextly, blog hop #8! I've missed having these, haha.
- What has been your favorite project to stitch? (either finished or in progress)
 |
| Southwest Spirit |
I found this piece in a thrift store back in 2010 with the border and a bit of the background started. All of the floss was included in little floss-a-way baggies and the pattern was in pretty decent shape. It smelled horrible. I had to wash it at least twice because I was nearly overwhelmed with cigarettes. Admittedly, I purchased it mind of picking out all the stitches and using the fabric for something else. My mother saw it though and really liked it, so I decided to finish it up. I am glad I did because it was so much fun to stitch! My absolute favorite part was that little brown pot on the left. It was also the first piece I ever stitched on a floor stand and that may have contributed to the love, haha. It's so much easier to stitch using both hands.
Visit all the blogs in this round of the Stitching the Night Away Stitching Blogger Blog Hop:
Find the instructions on how to participate in this round by clicking here.
Lastly, lastly....!! IT IS TRULY FINISHED. It even gets the Super Special "finish" label!
 |
| "We may be retreating, but... we're still victorious." |
And then sadness. I washed it and while there was no bleeding (thank goodness!), the creases will not iron out! Argh. I may have to block it or perhaps someone can suggest some sort of magic to get those darn things out. I totally feel Annie's (via The Crafty Pixie) frustration over stubborn wrinkles.
- Chart designed with KG-Chart and featured 10 colors originally. After stitching, I realized that two of the lighter blues were very, very similar so I replaced one with the other.
- 1 over 1 on white 22 count (hardanger). Black 2 over 1.
- Finished size: 11" x 6" (26.5cm x 15cm) -- need to double check this; I'm not exactly sure it was 6" high.
- Started: April 1, 2012, Finished: September 20, 2012. Roughly ???? hours.
(hopefully)
- Tweaking chart forever works out for the better. Getting the colors down to reasonable amounts was the best thing ever.
- Confetti the transitions even more. Stop going diagonal!
- Doing the colors in half-stitches worked AMAZINGLY. I was able to see the colors and decide if they were acceptable and if there was a mistake, half-stitches are so much easier to pick out. It also makes it easier to do the top leg.
- Black one line at a time, working up makes for the best "fill".
- Need to devise a better way of keeping track of the time spent on these. I have no idea how long it takes me to actually stitch them.
- Wash fabric before stitching to get out stubborn wrinkles. Bah.
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| action shot! |
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| size comparison |
I probably should've used a bigger piece of fabric... Oops. It will make framing interesting, I suspect. As for framing, I am not even going to attempt these guys. I'm taking them to a local framer where I can spend a few hours hashing out matte, glass, and frame preferences and then watch them suffer with my lack of fabric on the sides. I'm really a huge fan of the framing done by Jill at Rensel Studio but I don't think I can afford her, haha. Such fantastic work though!
Oh, and I actually washed FFVIII. Yes. With all those reds. I sort of cheated though. I fished out the colors in the chart and stitched them on a little scrap of fabric and then washed the little scrap. Nothing happened on the scrap so I figured I'd be safe washing the big piece, but let me tell you, I held my breath as I submerged that in the sink, ahahaha. It really, really needed a wash after being on the stand for five months and then a drawer for a year. It turned out sublime so this is a deliriously happy post instead of a woebegone gloomy post.
I think I'm (finally) typed out! I hope you enjoyed (or at least had tolerated amusement at) my very excited excitement. I hope you have productive fingers in the next week as well!
