Thursday 15 October 2020

Hogwarts In A Bottle - FINISHED!!!

Hi there!

Yes, you read the title correctly... Hogwarts In A Bottle is FINISHED!!! Oh Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Dance!

I'll waste no time and go straight to the pictures...

At 190 hours:


And now FINISHED... ta-da...

Hogwarts In A Bottle by CutePatternByMaria (etsy)
Stitched on 16ct Lazurite hand-dyed aida by Chromatic Alchemy
Stitch count 119 wide by 233 high
Started - 7th January 2019
Finished - 9th October 2020
Total Stitching Time - 199 hours 5 minutes


I'm sooooo excited to have this finished, and will definitely miss it - even the backstitching! Despite its size (and if I didn't have anything else to do!) I would not hesitate to stitch it again, that's how much I thoroughly enjoyed every single one of the 25,000 or so stitches.

The only change I made was using 3799 for the backstitching instead of the suggested 310. Black can be quite harsh sometimes and I thought this needed something a bit more subtle. But that's just personal taste.

Talking of backstitching, I didn't keep a record of how long it all took but am guessing maybe around 30 hours. There's a lot of fine detail around the castle windows, bridge arches and train, some using one strand, some using two but, as with all backstitching, what a difference!

I've already ordered a frame so, assuming I frame it within the next couple of weeks (which I'm sure I will) the completely fully-finished Hogwarts In A Bottle will be ready for the big reveal in November's FFG SAL.

So what to do now that I've finished one of my bigger WIPs? Well, I am sorely tempted to start another Harry Potter themed design to replace this one but have (sensibly) decided against it for the time being; I have plenty of WIPs to be getting on with, and four more new starts planned for Naughty November, so really can't justify starting another one this year. Next year, however... well, that's a different story! ;)

Finally, here are all the progress pictures together so you can see how the picture grew with each 10 hours of work. I've tried to be all technical and make a simple slideshow. I don't know if it will work, so if it doesn't, or you don't want to watch it, I've added the pictures as well. The music is Ravel's String Quartet In F Major (automatically adjusted to fit the length of he slideshow) and was the closest Harry Potter type background music available with the program. Enjoy!











Take care,
Rachel x

15 comments:

Suzanne H said...

Wow!! You should be so proud. I have a large WIP that I'm dragging my feet on. Maybe you've inspired me to get it out again. Beautiful work!

Linda said...

Congratulations Rachel. It is outstanding.

Linda

Rita said...

Just beautiful! And so effective with the slide show and the music!

Cathy said...

YAY!!! It's an awesome project and I've enjoyed watching your progress!

Ann C. said...

Congratulations Rachel, this is absolutely beautiful!! I loved watching you stitch this project.

Katie said...

Wow!!! So glad I caught up to read this. Congrats!!!!

Faith... said...

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S!!

I came to your page and was surprised!! I love it very much and I am sure your family will enjoy seeing it hanging from your wall. What an amazing job you accomplished!

Bethan said...

Ah I'm so glad I didn't miss this finish! Congratulations Rachel! It looks amazing x

Quilting Tangent said...

Great job! Celebration!

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Congratulations on the Happy Dance for Hogwarts! This looks amazing and the slideshow worked perfectly too. Looking forward to seeing it fully finished by the 10th now!

Tiffstitch said...

Yay!!!! This is so gorgeous! I love this so much, it's amazing!

Leonore Winterer said...

Wow, congratulations! It's stunning, and I'm sure it'll be even more stunning once it's framed. You did so well and I'm also proud of you for not going for a new start right away! Talking of new starts...I do have four new starts planned in November anyways, sooo I might just be able to join you after all!

Sheryl said...

Amazing design and great photos.

Astrids dragon said...

OMGoodness, it looks fantastic, I LOVE IT! Seeing it as a slideshow is magical, just as it should be. I can't wait to see it framed, I'm sure you are too.

FlashinScissors said...

Oh, well done Rachel!
I love the video, with music too! That’s fabulous!
You did I really well stitching this so fast! My biggest project is taking me years to finish, it’s just too big to stitch, and our cats tend to stop me stitching much
Congratulations on the fantastic finish!
Hugs,
Barbara xx!