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. :)

Lots of Framing

Hello everybody,

Nothing new in the way of stitching to show today, just lots of framing I've been doing. This means I now have 8 less pieces in my Box of Shame. It's a start!

Here we go then.....

1) Winter Owl
I completed this piece towards the end of 2015 and am so pleased to have now framed him. Even though he looked good with brown and red mounts, I opted for just a simple black frame with non-reflective glazing and leaving the minimum of fabric showing. He's quite small measuring just 6.5" by 7".

2 and 3) Odd Dogs - Sleepy Book and Balloon
I absolutely adore these little pieces I finished in 2016 so treated them to some custom-made frames in Airforce Blue with non-reflective glazing. They were a little expensive but well worth it, especially as they allowed me to keep a lot of the cloudy background fabric showing. I love them to bits!

4 and 5) Ocean Critters - Seahorse and Dolphin
Because I wanted a lot of fabric around these projects I was able to fit the designs into standard 10" x 8" black frames costing just £2 each from Asda. Having normal glass, it was not easy to get a good photo but I think this is OK.

6 and 7) Cattitudes - Cantankerous and Contentious
I didn't want anything fussy for these cat designs, so these simple 7" x 7" black frames seemed purrfect! I ordered 6 from ezeframe.co.uk so that when I stitch more of this series I will already have matching frames. They have normal glass so, again, getting a good photo was a little problematic.

8) Mini Midnight Manor
This was framed in the same 7" x 7" frame as the cats above. Simple but very effective. Sometimes less is best.

So that's 8 projects fully completed. Now to do a bit of rearranging to fit them all on the wall!

More (slightly more interesting) framing coming soon - I'm on a roll!

Take care,
Rachel x

Mini Midnight Manor - started and finished

Good afternoon everybody!

Despite the numerous WIPs I have which need finishing, I allowed myself a new start over the lengthy summer school holiday. I told myself quite severely that this had to be on the understanding that it was stitchable within the seven week time-frame and easy enough so that it could be stitched on for just a few minutes at a time if necessary. This is the pattern I chose:

Mini Midnight Manor by Waxing Moon Designs

Stitched on 16ct Lime over-dyed aida from Sewitall.com 2 over 1

Stitch count 80 wide by 80 high

Started - 22nd July 2016

Finished - 31st August 2016

Total stitching time - 16 hours 50 minutes

I made two main changes to the design:
1)  I moved the lampposts slightly so that the design would be an exact square (because I already have a square frame to put it in)
2)  I stitched the lights in the windows and lampposts as I thought it would give it a slightly more spooky feel.

Here's the original design for comparison:

I certainly don't think my changes have spoiled it but then I would say that!

Even though I used just over a skein of black I didn't get fed up of the one-colour chart - in fact it was quite refreshing for once not to have to change colours and carefully follow the symbols. This will definitely not be the only silhouette-type chart I stitch - there is a bigger version of this haunted house in my stash for starters.

Apart from my Smalls SAL pieces, I've got one more new start planned this year. Other than that, it's time to whip more of my WIPs and further decrease the number outstanding before the end of 2016. Best get on then.....

Take care everybody :)
Rachel x