Dollhouse Completed

This is an update to show you all the finished pieces since my last post. Because I was trying to finish in time for the fair, there wasn't much else that I did during my days than stitch for the months of June & July! I usually just stitch at night after the kids have gone to sleep, but these two months I spent every moment possible during the day and night stitching.

My mom and younger brother visited me for a week and wanted to help out. So I let them work on the bricks and windows on the front of the house while I set about stitching together all the rooms. I first put each room together (like a box) and then stitched them all together to get the interior of the house.

Then I stitched together all the exterior pieces so they made a large box-like shape and then I slid the interior rooms inside and stitched all the edges together. It was quite exciting to finally be finishing it all up! The last thing to do was get out the hot glue gun to glue on things like the roof, the chimney, the window boxes, the window frames and door frames. Finally, the little flowers were the last thing glued on and I was officially finished! 

I completed it just 3 days before I entered it into the fair. It won both the sweepstakes prize and the best in show in the needlework department. 

And yes, I'm already working on a new project... a CROSS STITCH project!!! :)

The End is in Sight!

So about two years ago I had an idea of a "little" project that I wanted to undertake. I really love dollhouses and wanted to get one for my daughter. Then I thought, "I've always wanted to try a plastic canvas project... maybe I could make one for her!" I searched online for a pattern I could use and found this one. I thought it was so cute! Having zero prior plastic canvas experience, I thought this would be a fun little project I'd be able to finish for her in time for Christmas.

 

And thus began this insane undertaking. My sister helped me cut out the pieces for the furniture and I began stitching. I loved it at first! It was like cross stitching in 3D! It was a lot of fun to watch the little pieces of furniture come together. 

However, it didn't take me long working on the furniture to realize my hope of completing this project by Christmas was totally unrealistic. Maybe I could finish it in time for her birthday in April. It took me about 8 months to stitch all of the furniture pictured. I think there are a few more pieces, like a table and a lamp that I have yet to stitch, but most of the furniture is finished. 

When I finally completed the bulk of the furniture then I was excited to get started on the walls and floors and ceilings of the dollhouse. I started cutting the canvas. And when I started stitching my first floor, I realized what a truly insane project I had undertaken and that finishing by her birthday was probably not going to happen. Maybe I could have it done by the next Christmas. Maybe. 

I did make a decision though. I decided that no matter what, I wasn't going to quit this project. I was going to complete it. And to ensure that I would, I have disciplined myself to not cross stitch anything until this dollhouse is complete. You see, I LOVE to cross stitch. It's almost like breathing for me, it's been that much a part of my life since I was 9. So not allowing myself to cross stitch until the dollhouse has been a very good motivation to continue working on this project. But it has been painful. There have been times when I have even dreamt about cross stitching because I miss it so much! The next Christmas came and went as did her next birthday. And still I was stitching away. Now my goal is to have this sucker finished in time to enter into the county fair in August. It's totally crunch time.

A few weeks ago I finally finished stitching the yarn part of all the floors, ceilings, walls and some of the exterior features as well. 

I still had a lot of top stitching to do on the walls of the dollhouse and today I finally finished that part as well!

Yes, those are hundreds of french knots. Yes, yes, I know. Anyway, with the end finally coming into sight after almost two years, I think it's possible I can finish this thing up in the next month! 

And then I can cross stitch again!!!

Stargazer is Finished!

I was able to complete all of my cross stitches when I was in the hospital for a few days due to a blood clot. 

I was happy with how the colors still showed up on my dark fabric. Now time to add the beads! It was pretty easy adding the beads to the dress, but once I had to start adding them out in the "sky" it was sooo difficult with no frame of reference to work from! Counting was already hard on the dark linen, but I had gotten used to it. What complicated the counting when attaching beads was that I was using an "invisible" thread to attach the beads! I finally came up with a perfect solution that made the counting monumentally easier: a head lamp! Family teased me of being a miner while I sat stitching on my corner of the couch, but hey, it worked!

I completed attaching the last bead on Saturday, July 26, 2014: 376 days after beginning the project. I usually would just say it took me a year to complete if asked, but with this project I kept track of the actual hours I spent. The final tally was 166 hours. That averages to be about 3 hours of stitching each week for just over a year. 

The following Monday found me anxious to find a frame for my piece so I could enter it into the upcoming county fair and local Peach Days. I didn't have the time to get it custom framed in time for the fair, so I came home from the craft store with a 16x20 frame that fit it okay, but that I didn't totally love. I had forgotten to bring my phone with me to the store and when I arrived home I found my husband completely distraught with the news that our 5 year old niece had been killed in a tragic accident. We spent the rest of the evening in shock, crying, praying, and pondering. I kept looking at my finished cross stitch piece and in my heart I felt moved to give it as a gift to my sister in law. It was no longer mine. It now has become a symbol of love and of the importance of holding on to hope, faith and trust in a plan of a loving God who desires our growth throughout our lives, especially through the darkest moments of mortality. A few weeks later my mom came to visit and when she heard that I wanted to give the piece to my sister in law, then she insisted on taking it back in to be custom framed. As such a gift of the heart, it deserved nothing less than the best.