Dreaming of Dolphins - finished

Morning all!

It should come as no surprise that I've now finished this gorgeous project. It required only a few more hours of stitching, plus a tiny bit of backstitching. I actually finished it a week ago, just haven't got around to posting about it until  now.

This is another finish from Debbie's Super Duper Ultimate Crazy January February Challenge (DSDUCJFC) 2015 and is the 20th finish out of the 59 starts. So, yes, I've now reached the 1/3 mark although, to be fair, 17 were finished in 2015 itself and those I've got left are generally the larger pieces. I've obviously still got a long way to go but I'll get there slowly and surely.

Anyway, here's the last progress picture from the end of April:

And here's the finished piece and details:

Designed by Karen Couchman and featured in Cross Stitch Collection March 2001

Stitched on 32ct Atlantic Depths hand-dyed Opalescent Murano Evenweave
by The Crafty Kitten 2 over 2
Stitch count 211 wide by 122 high
Started - 7th January 2015
Finished - 21st May 2017
Total stitching time - 59 hours 30 minutes

(estimated 69 hours)

It goes without saying that I thoroughly enjoyed stitching the dolphins, especially on the sparkly fabric, which really doesn't show up in the photos. There are only 6 colours in the piece and probably about half of the stitches use blended threads, but there are huge blocks of colour so it was very easy to stitch. Oh and I left out the little fish as I didn't think they were necessary.

However, now that I have unrolled the fabric I am quite annoyed - if you look closely at the top and bottom you might be able to make out distinct stripes where the fabric has more colour. This is where it was rolled on the frame so obviously some of the colour, namely the blue, has faded whilst I have been stitching. It'll be covered by the frame so won't actually show but it is annoying that my finished piece is not on the colour fabric I started out with. I'm trying to remain positive that at least it didn't fade too much and is still a lovely backgound for the dolphins.

I've already ordered the frame for this, along with the frames for a few other pieces, so there will be another chance to see it, and some other finished projects, soon.....

Take care,

Rachel x