Chinese Garden - Part 8

Hello all,

I know it's been a long time, even longer than I realized when I looked back for my last post. August of last year!  My excuses are as follows; since posting I've been through two harvests which mean no stitching for about 6-8 weeks, we sold a house (basically completely remodeled so no work to come home to,) bought a house, (that needs a great deal of work, roof, siding, updating . . .) and that is what has occupied me for the last year.  I did get a (very) little stitching done but never posted.  That would have taken far to much time.  To catch you all up I did finish the bottom two vignettes and completed the inner border all the way around.  Last night I started the outer blue border that means I'm almost to the phoenixes!  I'm looking forward to starting them, I think they were the main reason I bought the pattern.  So without further ado a few pics.  I am thinking about going back and doing a little back stitching around the fall tree, I would like the boughs to be a bit better defined.  Thoughts?

 'Till next time, hope it will be much sooner.  E

Chinese Garden - Part 6 and 1/2 Part 7

Once again I have been stitching but not posting, I also took timeout to stitch a small piece for my neighbor's 16th birthday.  The letter E from Nora Corbett, it was a fun break, especially as she is an Elizabeth too.

Back the the garden, part 6 is done; the last moon gate and the first corner.  Part 7 is half done but I have to roll up the scroll to finish so you can see what's done and then I'll post the rest probably with Part 8, the final corner and the whole border before the phoenixes.  Yeah!

No changes to the West Moon gate though I think it looks more like some sort of eroded steppes rather than a terraced rice patties.

As for the NW corner I shifted the two highest Algerian eyelets in the bridge up one space to make a better curve.  I thought four eyelets in row looked odd. 

In the NE corner I wish I has separated the dark red thread to one strand in the over one on the koi, the red looks too bulky in comparison to the pink.  I did when I outlined the fins and think you can see more definition.  The other change I made was instead of Rhodes for the lily pads I used Algerian eyelets but alternated sides while stitching so that I didn't get a hole in the middle, I wanted something that reminded me more of lily pads which have the great lines/veins running into the center of each pad.
 

Lastly I did the inside of the inner border on both corners.  It certainly dresses it up!  Now to stitch the bottom corners.

Please don't kick me off for posting a non-Chatelaine but I just wanted to share with someone! :-)

Chinese Garden - Parts 4&5 done

Greetings All,

I have been stitching but not posting.  The East and South moon gates went quickly as well and I am now working on the West moon gate.  Part 6 should take a little longer as it also includes the first corner vignette as well as starting the inside border.  And now pictures, same progression as usual.

I'm not a fan of the blue in the hills around the Great Wall.  On the left side it seems like the shade of blue is just off, it should be smokier or more green gray and on the right side of the wall I can't decide if it is the sky, then the back stitching shouldn't be continuing past the last tower into the sky or it is more of the hazy distance and then again it is too blue.  Then again maybe they are snow dusted hills on the right.  I probably won't rip it out but it is tempting.  I'll watch it a little longer as I fill in around it, especially the left blue patch.

 Fortunately the canyon view hasn't caused me any angst.  Except maybe the yellow gold back stitching in the water at the bottom . . .

Chinese Garden - Part 3 finished

Part 3 went more quickly than expected, though having a long weekend definitely helped.  And neglecting the yard work, it was sort of rainy so it didn't take much convincing on my part.  The first picture again is just the cross stitches completed.  I used quarter stitches in the tree on the left instead of 3/4 ones which left it a bit airy, maybe too airy.  How do you decide when the pattern means 1/4 vs 3/4 stitches?

The next picture is with the decorative stitching done, it took me about a day and a half.  Didn't track my time, I usually don't.  I did forget to take a picture just the decorative stitching done, so ignore the bit of back stitching you see.  I love the stitches under the roof line and decided to use two plies of the pale green that crosses the dark gray jessica like stitch.  I wanted a little more pop.  I also came across my first skein of badly dyed thread (Silk n Color), the candy cane effect, fortunately the color is very pale anyway so the effect is barely noticeable but I could see how a skein would be unusable if it were a vibrant color.  I may try to order another skein of the right stuff as my LNS is about an hour away.

Lastly is the completed moon gate to the north, now on to the east gate which highlights the Great Wall.

 

Leonore, I had to look up Fatal Frame, as I never played it.  As it is a console game I'll probably never get to either, I'm one of those PC players.  I can see why you might have a different feeling for moon gates though after reading about it.  Fortunately there are lots of other mandalas to stitch. :-D

Chinese Garden - Part 2 finished

Hello all,  Part 2 went quickly and I'm very happy with how it turned out.  I found the gold beads in the corners a little large and left them on the diagonal while trying to work open the jessicas there so the bead would slide in.  I'm tempted to go back and pull out the beads and replace them with a french knot or something, I think a dark center would contrast nicely.  Overall I think the border is very pretty I could see using it to band a hand towel.  Those of you who have stitched this what did you end up doing for the third (smallest) petals in the corners.  The pattern called for a color not on the materials list and I didn't have anything in my stash between the cream I ended up using and the next yellow petals.  I think the three colors look fine but aren't what was written.

Part 2 before beads and after:

As for the first part I did rip out the doorway and try a dense rhodes, a satin stitch, a different black thread and a few other things. Of course I was trying to avoid frogging the gold back-stitching through it all.  I did go with the dense rhodes and am pretty happy with the effect.  Thank you again for your feed back.

Part 3 is under way with the north moon gate.  I love moon gates in real life and these four vignettes were definitely part of what drew me to this piece.  I'm looking forward to stitching them.  Can't wait to see what the rest of you are accomplishing.  Especially the Zen Moss Garden, that might be on the list for next!

Chinese Garden, part 1 finished

So I just squeaked under wire to finish part one in a month and am very happy with the results.  I did add the smaller beads but not the larger ones that might snag the threads while sititching.  So here are a few pictures for you to peruse.  The first shows all the cross stitch done, then all the decorative stitches and finally the beads.  I decided to turn the beads for the sides though the corners messed with that plan a little.  I also changed the color of about four of them, a little less gold, a little more red.  I'm not happy with the black rhodes stitch in the center of the portal and am thinking about pulling it out.  Maybe a vertical satin stitch?  Any thoughts?  Love to hear some other ideas.

I did start part two and it should go faster, getting me under my one part a month schedule.  Yes, I'm a little obsessive about my jessicas and weave them under so they are uniform with no starting point.  Thanks for noticing!  My husband asked how long each one took, so I tracked it.  Assuming no serious tangles I average 4 minutes per jessica and there are 40 total.  So, not counting cutting threads, weaving tails and threading the needle that's 160 min or 2:40 just to stitch all those little yellow circles.  I might almost wish he hadn't asked! LOL
I'll post again when part two is done.

Sorry the pictures are a little blurry, I've been using my phone to track my progress, it keeps me motivated when I can check to see the last time I stitched.

Cheers, E

Just another introduction

Hi, my name is Elizabeth and I live in the pacific northwest of the US.  Long time stitcher but this is my first Chatelaine. Jan convinced me to take the plunge with her Persian Iris Mandala postings over here.

I chose the Chinese Garden because I really couldn't see stitching everything four times as much as I like the look of the finished project.  I figure this gives me some of the same feel of her true mandalas but there is some variation.  I started on Friday and this what I was able to get done over the weekend.  I did change the fabric to a slightly more creamy linen rather than the antique white which I thought was too stark.

Chinese Garden ~ 13 April 2014

An Introduction..........

Hello everyone, I'm Amanda (otherwise known as Mrs Milkybar Kid in other corners of the internet) and I am a Chatelaine addict!  Thank you to Joysze for finally dragging me out of the Dark Ages and getting me to post on this blog - and also to her and her fellow stitcher sisters in crime for organising SBCC which I'm looking forward to being a part of!

I discovered Chatelaines towards the end of 2011 and whilst doing copious amounts of "research" on them (i.e drooling over WIP pics) I discovered this blog and Joysze's Random Ramblings.  I couldn't take my eyes off the gorgeous pics of  her Chinese Garden Mandala and knew I had to stitch it myself - and the rest as they say is history!

Anyway, enough of my waffle - you are here for the pics right?!  Here are my Chatelaine finishes to date, from the smallest to the greatest:



Martina's Roses
Completed August 2011

 Springtime Roses
Completed September 2011

Tiny Rose Garden Mandala
Completed September 2011

Autumn Freebie 2011
Completed May 2012

Lavender Garden (from GOSM)
Completed May 2012

Raffle Consolation 2012
Completed August 2012

Cattleya Orchid
Completed February 2013

Beaded Dragonfly Tile
Completed December 2013

Fire Lily Garden
Completed October 2013

Chinese Garden (DMC Conversion)
Completed May 2012

Butterfly Lace
Completed February 2013

Bigger (better!) pictures and more close-ups can be found in my album here.

I'll be starting Hortus Viridarium and Autumn Hydrangea for SBCC (who knows what else if I finish those, I have a few to choose from :)) and I look forward to SALing with you all!