I should never make plans.......

Why is it that when I plan something out (like finally getting this finished) the very next day things go mental and I have not a single minute to stitch?

Now I am not complaining, well maybe just a teeny tiny bit.......it's been a wonderful whirlwind of a year for me so far and little sign of it calming down yet.

If you would like to see what I have been upto, pop over the my art page here www.facebook/carolinelordartandcraftworks

I am thrilled to be able to say that some of my original artworks are now available to buy as cross stitch charts, this is a really exciting development and I still have to pinch myself!

When I decided to learn to draw a few years ago, it was a dream that one day my work would be charted, but I didn't expect it to happen so soon, if you are interested, you can buy charts of my work from here : http://www.eclecticblokedesigns.co.uk/

These are a few of them which have been charted so far

Also, I have a very awesome and very exciting secret, I cannot tell, I really wish I could, all I can say is keep an eye out for Cross Stitch Gold Magazine issue 116 in November ;)

Back to Night Queen, have I finished a page? Nope, sadly not even close, but I should be at the half page tonight.  I am enjoying a few, rare days off and am really enjoying stitching on her, so fingers crossed I will be back in a few days with the next page finish.

Thanks for sticking with me, I really hope it will be worth the wait!

Four Years & No Finish? Really!!

I know, it has been forever since I posted my last page finish and all that time, Night Queen has sat rolled up in her overnight bag, not a stitch to be seen.

Until yesterday.  I found myself in a rare position of having a few days where nothing NEEDED to be done, I do have work to do but the deadline is an age away.  I could be working on some art practice or one of my animal portraits, but, just for once, I wanted to do something just for me.

It took me over an hour to get all my bits and pieces together and get her back on her quilting hoop, then I looked through the chart and sighed, still another 7 pages to go........

I put in those first few stitches of the day, then a few hundred more and before the day had finished she was over 1000 stitches closer to being finished.  

Reading through my blog, I discovered that I started her four years ago, FOUR YEARS!!! And she is no where near to be finished.  I am embarrassed and shocked at myself.  When I started, I thought it would take a year or two.    At this rate, an average of 3 pages per year, it will likely be a 6-7 year project :(

I stamped my feet for a bit, had a fairly sizeable tantrum, but then sat back down to stitch. I don't want her to be a 6 year project, I don't even want her to be a 5 year project.

So, I seem to have found a bit of momentum and determination.  From this point on, I am going for the finish!  It won't be easy and it won't be fast, there will be times when I am snowed under with work and art commissions, but I will work hard to make sure that no more than a couple of days pass without her seeing a needle.

Yesterday I worked on the 14th page here is where I am this morning, I am aiming for another 1000 stitches today. Then I have a pretty free weekend, lets see how much I can get done!!

I will update every day that I stitch on her in the hopes that it will keep me focussed. Thank you to everyone who looks at this blog, thank you for sticking with me over such a long span of time, I promise I will finish her and I very much hope that will be during 2014!

Page finished :)

Yay, finally and it's a bit of a milestone as I have reached the bottom of the stitched area, just 8 more pages to go :)

Night Queen Back On The Hoop

It has been so difficult to find time to work on this project, but every day that I don't stitch her, I feel a little more guilty. I cannot believe the length of time she has been a WIP for :(

I have a bit of a gap between work, coursework and chaos and I am determined to keep working on her until I reach another page finish.  It is a part page at the end of the row and is only around 3800 stitches, totally do able in a few days :)

Whilst sorting the project and measuring this morning, I came to the conclusion that I will be cropping the design a little, she is just a little too long for the wall I plan to hang her on, I don't want to hide the bottom behind a sofa and risk rubbing and wearing on the threads, so i'm cutting it a little short.   Not by much, the last row of pages is only about 50 rows, I will be leaving these off, it won't make much difference to the design.

Good news is, after some quick calculations, that makes me past the half way mark :)

I started this project in May 2010 and am slightly embarassed that, over 3 years later, i'm only half way *sigh*.  I will be back in a few days with a picture of my next page finish.

Todays stats:  Total stitch count= 134,050.  Stitches done = 71,205 which is 53.11%

Page 11 finished

Apologies for being a bad blogger, swoops in with picture of new page finish and then pops off to stitch some more :)

Page 10 Finished :)

Phew, finally I have finished another page, page 10 of 25 finished, just 15 more to go :)

I decided to have a try at gridding this page and parking my threads and I have to admit, it made it much easier and faster to stitch.

44.6% completed....

I will grid up the next page now and get straight to it

Onto page 11.........

More Pastels.

Today, I have been mostly playing with pastels :) This is a picture for a friend of a their adorable little kitten, he isnt quite finished yet,  a couple more hours should do it I hope

I have been stitching, sadly not on Night Queen, but on Lost In You mini from HAED, it is a very quick and easy stitch, just what I needed, I promise I will get back to Night Queen soon.

Thanks for reading x