Fantasy Castle FINISHED!! 06.11.15 pg 4

[vanessanjf]

I think it will be amazing when it is completed. Your eyes will be drawn to the castle so I don't think you need to worry about the sky too much. Congratulations on moving into your own place. It must be lovely to be able to leave your stitching out

[Arianwen]

well my needle has been flying lately so here is another update.

I took this photo about 2 weeks ago ad have gotten quite a bit more done since then



the first page in the middle row is complete in this picture.

Since then I have completed the next page and have a bridge! and I've made good progress on the 3rd page which is where the first of the castle buildings can be seen. I think the sky is looking a little better as the rocks etc get filled in.

My stitching will slow down now as I go back to work on Monday so will have limited time to stitch on this again. I think I have like 8 pages left and some of them have only a few stitches on, a couple have all the stitches to do. I'm hoping to get this finished by Christmas. I'm starting to buy some beaded ornaments to decorate the flat as we have no christmas decs yet.

A friend has commissioned a couple of graduation pieces for her twins so getting stuff ready for that, and I am lusting after the lakeside needlecrafts fantasy sampler/SAL - i havent caved yet though. Is anyone else here doing that?

Thats it for now - thanks for looking

[karen4bells]

Wow!!! Great update on this!! and to think you've managed even more since the photo was taken!! Just amazing!!
As for the lakeside needlecrafts fantasy sampler/SAL, I am not familiar with it, but it does sound intriguing--curious minds would love more information

[Arianwen]

Karen - Its a 12 month stitch-a-long sampler with a fantasy theme. It only started in August so 2 designs have been released so far, and the border was released about a month before that again.

It's designed by, I think, Durene Jones, who does a couple of the cross stitch magazines.

It has been done exclusively for the Lakeside Needlecrafts site and it seems to be a reasonable price, both for the downloads and for the hard copy versions ( I think if I do it I will go for this, as we dont have a printer yet). They also have options for chart only, chart and fabric, or a whole kit.

Here is a link to the page http://www.lakesideneedlecraft.co.uk/la ... -153-c.asp" target="_blank I apologise if I can't post a link to it.

I am really tempted as I love the two designs that are out so far but on quite a tight budget so trying not to impulse buy it.......

[kandifloss]

Lovely update, look forward to seeing next update

Kandi

[rcperryls]

Wow!!! Great update on this!! and to think you've managed even more since the photo was taken!! Just amazing!!
As for the lakeside needlecrafts fantasy sampler/SAL, I am not familiar with it, but it does sound intriguing--curious minds would love more information

I agree about how much beautiful stitching you have done and can't wait to see more. If I wasn't overwhelmed by the number of projects I have going on and the ones I haven't started (Mabels SAL for eg), I could be talked into the fantasy SAL. So I hope that someone stitches it so I can see it develop. Looks intriguing!

Carole

[vanessanjf]

You are making fantastic progress

[richardandtracy]

Looks like you are progressing really well. Glad the sky isn't such a problem as the other bits get filled in.

Regards,

Richard.

[Arianwen]

I have another update!

I cant believe how fast this is going considering how much confetti there is. Please ignore my mess of parked threads - I have now sorted them out so they are no longer tangled.

this is where I was on saturday when I moved my qsnap. I am maybe 200 stitches shy of another page finish

I have 8 pages left unfinished and the next one is the one with the least already done, another page only has 3 stitches on it to be done and a couple of the others have only a couple of hundred stitches left to do

if I keep going at this speed I think I can totally get this done by xmas.

I am hoping not to have to move my qsnap again - I have the remaining white space all well within my margins on the frame. I dont have much time to stitch at the moment as work is crazy and my grandparents are causing trouble (not on purpose - my nana is in hospital again and we managed to get my grandad into respite while she is in hospital) so a few hospital visits etc, so when I get home im kinda collapsing on the sofa until bedtime lol.

This weekend my plan is to finish my current page and see if I can maybe finish at least one of the others as well. My nana should be coming out of hospital and going into respite care with my grandad this weekend so as long as all goes well with that the visiting should be easier.

Thanks for looking!

[Midge]

It looks fabulous.
I hope your Grandies get sorted out quickly.

[Squirrel]

I do hope your grandparents get better soon and the visiting is easier.

A fabulous update and it is looking really awesome. Well Done.

[rcperryls]

Ditto for me! Hope your Grands are both better and being well taken care of.
for your lovely progress!!

Carole

[vanessanjf]

Fantastic stitching I hope your grandparents are on the mend soon.

[Lulu22]

Great update and you've left the best bit to stitch to last can't wait to see the castle

I hope your Grandparents get better quickly and are reunited soon.

[richardandtracy]

The castle is coming on brilliantly. It is going to look pretty spectacular when finished. And how do you do it so fast?!?

Regards,

Richard

[kandifloss]

Brilliant, you have done very well on this. Look forward to next update

Kandi

[Arianwen]

Thanks for the well wishes everyone. My grandparents are both in their mid 90's so doing well and the decline was not unexpected - theyve been having problems since before last christmas.

My grandad is flourishing in respite and just waiting on a few more tests for my grandma to reunite them, then hopefully a few weeks in respite and my dad wants to get them back in their own home with a live in carer.

Richard - I'm not sure how it is going so fast, considering I'm mostly just stitching on weekends (I've done maybe an hour of stitching one evening this week and thats it). I think part of it is the end is now in sight so I'm galvanised to get it done and get on to some other stitching.

I have about 15 needles pre-threaded with colours that come up most often and when I move to a new area I make a list of the symbol, then its number working from left to right and work my way down the list, usually starting with new colours and ending with my prethreaded needles. I park a fair bit as I do a mix of cross country and parking, so that helps speed things up with less starting and finishing

thanks for looking!

[RosemaryD]

So fast! It's really lovely and the sky looks better with each update - by the time you've finished it will blend in perfectly, I think.

Glad to hear your grandparents are doing well.

[Arianwen]

IT IS FINISHED!!!!! I am soooooo happy!

Without further ado here is a pic of the finished piece!



Please excuse the crinkles, this is straight off the qsnaps at around 10pm last night. It has now been washed and is rolled in a fluffy white towel drying. I am probably going to frame it if I can find something big enough at a decent price but I may make a wall hanging if I can snaffle a sewing machine.

I am pretty pleased how it turned out apart from that little bit of sky and I can live with that.

It took about 10 days longer than I had planned due to some horrendous unexpected life events

My Nana was due for discharge in the middle of October to join my grandad in respite. The home people were visiting her and while she was being taken to the toilet by a nurse, fell and cracked the back of her skull, causing a fracture and brain bleeds (and brain damage I believe) so my parents were at the hospital a lot for the better part of 2 weeks before she let go and passed away on her 93rd birthday.

They got home from the hospital the day she passed to find 5 fire engines outside their house...........

Luckily no one was hurt and while there is a lot of extensive damage it is mostly smoke damage. They were hoping to move back in while repairs were carried out but have since decided not to do that and have gotten a rental. They have been in a hotel for the last 3 weeks (I think we are now moving into week 4) and only just been told they can have the rental property. The insurance are still being difficult about the whole thing.

As a result I have had to do more with work and trying to help ease the strain on my parents and sister, and are currently housing their cat (my sisters cat died in the fire) but shhhh dont tell my landlord and my stitching time was badly depleted.

Everything is improving now though and hopefully we will all be back on an even keel soon.

Thanks for looking and reading!

[kingfisher68]

This is a pretty fantasy castle & it will look lovely framed.

I am very sorry to hear of the tragic events of the past 4 weeks or so, such an awful time for you & your family. I hope things get smoother now. You have done so well to carry on with this project when you could. Hope it brought some respite from your troubles even if only for a few minutes here & there.