Midnight Manor - finished!

Good afternoon everyone!

Yes, Midnight Manor is finished, complete with alterations and additions.

Here it was after 30 hours:

This is a reminder of what it should look like:

And here's my finished version:

Midnight Manor by Waxing Moon Designs

Stitched on 16ct Tangerine over-dyed aida by sewitall 2 over 1

Stitch count 133 wide by 121 high

Started - 27th October 2018
Finished - 22nd December 2018
Total stitching time - 34 hours 55 minutes

I don't want to blow my own trumpet (OK, maybe I do a little!) but I think my version looks so much better than the original... more atmospheric and definitely less bland.

I made quite a few minor changes so let me talk you through them:

- the fence on the left was moved one space to the right since it was asymmetrical with the fence on the right, and I couldn't cope with that imbalance!
- the path had to be adjusted very slightly because of the above
- the spider in the top right was replaced with a second hanging bat
- both bats were moved two squares towards the outside since I didn't like the fact that their wings touched the tree branch (as you can see with the bat on the right in the 30 hour picture).
- some little bats were added to fill in some of the blank spaces, especially behind the owl
- the pumpkins were stitched in 3853, as opposed to black (and changed from 741 which the I had originally used)
- lights were added into the house in DMC19
- 19 was also used to colour in the eyes of the animals and the missing feathers of the owl

Other than that, it's all as charted!!!

I intend to frame this piece some time next year, so until then it will go into my Box Of Shame.

Knowing that I'm going to have a new start on Christmas Day has left me two days to try to squeeze in a very small piece before then. I know exactly what that piece will be and you'll see it in the Smalls SAL post on the 28th.

Take care,
Rachel x

Midnight Manor - 30 hours

Hello all!

I thought maybe I'd get this finished within the next 10 hour stint but it was not to be. To be fair, I haven't got much left to do so my estimate wasn't too far out.

Here's how you last saw Midnight Manor:

And now after 30 hours:

I had planned to make the lights inside the manor a bright yellowy-green, but opted for a soft peach instead to go with the fabric. However, I do think the pumpkin is possibly too bright so may be frogged and replaced with a more browny-orange. Not sure.

So all I've got left to do is finish off the window lights, stitch (or restitch) the pumpkins and replace the spider which should be hanging from the branch in the top right with something else. I feel a Happy Dance coming on very very soon!

Take care,
Rachel x

Midnight Manor - 20 hours

Hello all!

Just a quick update today. I absolutely love this piece (especially the wrought iron railings!) and managed to fit in another ten hour stint on it at the end of November. Here is how I left it after ten hours of work:

And now after 20:

I am quite confident I can finish this within the next week or so, which will achieve my aim of finishing it before Christmas Day (got to keep the week between Christmas and New Year free for my new Tribal Dragon!) Fingers crossed...

Take care,
Rachel x

New Start - Midnight Manor - 10 hours

Hello all!

Following the completion of A Shower, my next new start for 2019 is another piece I've been wanting to stitch for a-g-e-s. Admittedly it's a little late for this Halloween but at least it will be ready in plenty of time for the next one!

Midnight Manor by Waxing Moon Designs

Stitched on 16ct Tangerine over-dyed aida by sewitall.com 2 over 1

Stitch count 113 wide by 121 high

Started - 28th October 2018

This is how it will look when finished, although I will be making a few small changes including getting rid of the spider and making the pumpkins pumpkin-coloured.

I may also add yellow lights in the windows, as I did with Mini Midnight Manor, and stitch the moon with glow-in-the-dark thread, although need to be careful not to unbalance the simplicity of the design by introducing too many colours. We'll see. Either way, I'm definitely looking forward to stitching more of this - sometimes it's really nice not to have to think about different symbols and colours changes!

Take care,
Rachel x

PS for those who are still interested, I've now put a link on my previous post to the free monthly charts by Palkolap. It's just above the pictures of the charts. :)