I've been stitching a ton, just not posting! At the beginning of the year I had some goals for my projects left over from 2023, plus new starts I'd planned to make. Here's the lists:
- Chinese Garden Mandala (Chatelaine) - finish in 2024
- Dragons of Sumatra (Ink Circles) - finish in Q1
- Magic Potions Temperature SAL (Teeny Weeny X Stitch) - finish in 2024
- Mushroom & Fern Mandala (Chatelaine) - finish in Q1
- Rosarium (Chatelaine) - ???
- Violet Patch Mandala (Chatelaine) - ???
- Amethyste Band Sampler (iStitch Designs) - finish in 2024
- Snowy Winter (Owlforest) - finish in Q1
- Wisteria (Nora Corbett) - finish in Q1
Things are not QUITE on track but I've done a lot! Dragons of Sumatra was a finish in February:
I didn't start Snowy Winter until after Dragons of Sumatra was done. My intent for the four Owlforest seasons was to have three full months to work on each (thus finishing them all in one year) so I might aim for Winter to be done by the end of April and carry on with three months each from there. I've already gotten quite a bit done here:
And yes, I went with hand dyed fabric because eff boring colors and skimpy kit fabrics. (I love Owlforest but their kit fabrics are SO stingy, less than 2 inches on each side.) This is Aether by Chromatic Alchemy, and it's a pretty ice blue with beige smudges. Even prettier in person!
Finally, the BIG BOY - Mushroom and Fern Mandala! I'm 100% done with the stitching as of March 13 so now it's time for beads! I'm super excited, this is the first "big" Chatelaine that I've gotten to this point and I can't wait for it to be finished! Previous finishes like Spring Knotgarden and Octopus Treasure Cave are on the smaller side for a Chat mandala, but I have to say that Mushroom is a lot less dense than Chinese Garden. Even though Mushroom is like 60 stitches bigger in both directions, I'm pretty sure Chinese Garden has a LOT more stitching in total.
Anyway. Here is the center beading in progress! The center pond has been done since the very beginning, but now there's gold beads in the meadow (in place of french knots in metallic gold because no) and the start of the blue corners and triangle borders. Exciting stuff!
Also I couched every single one of those little spiral ferns around the center, each of which had 30-50 attachment points to the fabric, so you're GOING TO look at them:
Thank you. :3