Sunday 26 August 2018

Haunted House Bell Pull - finished and framed!

Hello here!

I was absolutely determined that I would finish Haunted House Bell Pull during August and guess what? I have actually finished it! So please feel free to join me in a Spooky Happy Dance!

At the end of July it only needed a little more work on the path to be completed. One hour of stitching and just under two and a half hours of backstitching later, it's gone from this:


To this:

 Haunted House Bell Pull by Stoney Creek
Stitched on 16ct Cloud Stone over-dyed aida from sewitall.com
Stitch count 50 wide by 200 high (I'm not stitching the full chart)
Started - 23rd January 2018
Finished - 26th August 2018
Total stitching time - 53 hours 20 minutes


I decided not to stitch any of the words (nor any bats which were suggested in a comment on a previous post - sorry!) so here's my version against what it would have looked like had I stitched it as charted.



I was never going to stitch the 'happy haunting' at the bottom but did originally intend to stitch the 'welcome' at the top but in less scrawly writing. Then I changed my mind and actually think I prefer it without anything.

So, then came the finishing off - decisions, decisions!

It was always my intention to finish it as a bell pull; it would be something different, something that I've never done before, and its name - Haunted House Bell Pull - sort of suggests that it's the right shape! But, despite various internet searches (in the UK) I couldn't find many bell pull hangers for sale, let alone any which were the right colour/design/size for this piece. I was actually quite disappointed. Making it into an ornie of some kind didn't seem right either, given its shape, which left framing as the final option.

There weren't any suitable brightly-coloured mounts available (not that I really think it needs any) but I did find a frame which coordinated perfectly with the fabric. So framing it was. This actually makes quite a lot of sense considering I am planning on stitching a matching but much bigger Haunted House which is definitely not suitable for a bell pull and which can be framed the same when the time comes.

So here is Haunted House Bell Pull in its 13mm Dark Grey Stain frame with anti-reflective acrylic glazing. Thank you again easyframe.co.uk for coming up trumps!



I absolutely adored putting every stitch into this piece and am even more delighted with the finish. I hope you like it too!

Now that Haunted House Bell Pull is finished I've got a small gap to fill, which means a new start. I've already decided which one (and I'm quite excited about it) so have five days left of this month to start working on it. Let's see how far I get.

Take care,
Rachel x

8 comments:

Linda said...

Congrats on the awesome finish and framing finish Rachel. You do such an amazing job with your finishes. I sure wish I could.

Linda

Quilting Tangent said...

Looks good, looking forward to seeing the next one.

Unknown said...

Looks great without the words added to it. So bright, and in time for Halloween. Happy stitching!

Katie said...

Wow. I love the way it turned out. Perfect. I think it looks much better your way. The framing looks meant to be too. Can't wait to see what you started.

rosey175 said...

This turned out great with the mottled fabric! The wording does look a little odd on the original, like someone just got tired of writing haha. :) How nice to free up space for a new start!

Faith... said...

Oh Rachel it turned out FABULOUS! I love it so much!! You did such a great job on it and I think you are so right about the wording - it looks much better without it. The frame you put it in looks perfect for it too.

Can't wait to see what the new start is going to be ;)

Sasha said...

I love seeing a finished project getting framed. It looks awesome!
Yes, I agree, it looks much better without the words.

The Crafty Princess said...

Wow Rachel that is wickedly perfectly amazing! I love the effect the fabric has and it makes it more spooky than if you stitched it as charted. To say I love it is an absolute understatement. Well done and congrats.
xo Alicia