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. 

Stargazer @ 52 hours

Please don't mind my wrinkles... Here's what my Stargazer looks like at 52 hours worth of stitching. I'm hoping the brighter blues that I have yet to stitch will help the dress pop out of the dark fabric like I was hoping. I feel disappointed at how the darkest color in her dress is matching so closely to the dark fabric. I hope she doesn't completely disappear! I'm concerned about how her hair will blend into the dark fabric as well. Oh well! There's no going back now!

Sparklies

Googling cross stitch stuff paid off big time for me... I discovered Sparklies! It's a lady in the UK who hand dyes fabrics and they are beautiful! I had chosen a new Mirabilia design that I want to stitch and so I chose this fabric to work it on. I was so giddy with excitement the day I chose it out and the day it finally arrived in the mail. It is AWESOME. It's called "Pitch" and I chose it in opalescent (which means it SPARKLES!). It's gorgeous and I began stitching on it yesterday. 

This material is going to make this piece simply breathtaking, in my opinion. The design I'm stitching is called Stargazer. It's of a woman in a beautiful flowing dress, hands to her chest, eyes lifted heavenward towards a sky full of stars. It's full of beadwork that will be in her dress and the stars in the sky. I can't even begin to describe to you how excited I am to be working on this! I'll post pictures of my progress as it's coming along. 

Lighthouse

I just finished stitching this lighthouse which is the first in a series of four that I am going to be putting together as a quilt. It took me about four months to do this piece. There were a lot of french knots in this, but they were kind of fun to do... proof that I've finally mastered how to do them! 

Dimensions Beacon at Daybreak

stitched area 5" x 7"

It's Framed!

I finally got this back from the framer's. It took a while because first, the order was sent to the wrong store. Then when they reordered it to the right store, the mat was cut rectangular instead of oval so had to be reordered again. I was finally able to pick it up last Friday and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out! I just can't take my eyes off it. Having it framed adds some dimension to the piece and really makes it stand out. As beautiful as this is in the picture, real life is way prettier. I'm one happy stitcher!

Tiger Chilling Out

I love tigers!! I had so much fun doing this piece. I love how the stitching looks on black. 

Interesting story with this one: I had finished all the tiger and was working on the water. We took a trip up to a friend's cabin and I had taken my cross stitch with me. After arriving home and wanting to work on it again, I couldn't find it anywhere! I thought surely I had left it up at the cabin. The friend checked all around the next time they were up there and it was no where to be found. I couldn't find it anywhere in my house. I was so sad to think it was lost! All that work... my beautiful tiger! About five months went by and then one morning in December, when we were packing up our house to move, my husband woke me up out of bed with a surprise. He had found my cross stitch! Somehow it had gotten caught in the crevice of the back seat of our car and was only visible when he had laid down the row of seats as he was loading it up to take stuff to our storage unit. I was sooo happy to have it back again! Now this project is finished, but I don't have it framed yet. It will be the next one I put up on display.

Tiger Chilling Out by Dimensions

Stitched area 9" x 14" 18 count

Queen of Peace

This was my favorite project to do! I loved doing all of the beautiful beadwork on it. I stitched it on 32 count linen. For Christmas, my dad and stepmom paid to have it custom framed for me and it is hanging up in our dining room. Every day I see it and it makes me want to do another one like it!

Queen of Peace by Mirabilia

Stitched design 10.5" x 20"