Monday 5 March 2007

Chatelaine Christmas Mystery IV

This weekend I have stitched on Chatelaine Christmas Mystery IV and have already hit a bit of a low with it. I got the green on the inner frame stitched then decided to go onto the ribbon, or whatever it is, underneath the inner frame. Now I know Martina says that for it look like the original then you stitch in the fibres she suggests.Due to the cost of buying the correct threads I decided to go with her DMC conversion but I am really not happy with how it looks so far. I haven't finished the ribbon as yet but I have done over half of it and here it is. Is it just me or does this not look right? To me the shading is too drastic and not subtle enough. Here and here are ones stitched in the recommended silks and the shading is much better. I know they are variegated but surely there would have been a better DMC conversion than this. Having said that Julia is also stitching with DMC and here is hers on black and the shading doesn't look as drastic as mine. Oh well I will perservere with it. Martina must know better than I do as she is the designer!

This week I am back to stitching on HAED Winter by Sara Butcher. Those of you who know me from the HAED forum may well know that Sara is my favoutire artist and I have several of both her quick stitch and storykeep charts and have completed one so far. Winter is my first full sized piece and I am looking forward to getting stuck into page 2. I hope to do a little bit of stitching during the day to try and get a bit more done than I would just by stitching in an evening. It's going to take me a while to get to the angel but I am certainly looking forward to reaching her and stitching her face.

I decided that I have a bit of a dilemma, although now that I am unsure about the DMC conversion on my current Chatelaine the problem could well be solved. I absolutely love two charts, one was a former mystery and the other an online class I think, but there is no way I can buy and stitch both because they are large pieces and I just don't have the wall space. I had decided on Alpine Seasons when it's released but then I saw somebody's WIP pic of Evening in the Park and now I am stumped again! Maybe I should just not bother with either of them then that would solve the problem! LOL!

That's all from me for today. Thank you for all your wonderful comments. They really mean a lot to me and brighten up my days.

10 comments:

Carol said...

I think your Chatelaine Christmas piece is beautiful, nonetheless! Well done!

Julie said...

The Chatelaine looks good Sally, there is still a lot to do so maybe the shading will look better as it progresses, it's hard to tell on a PC pic as the colours are not the same as you see them

Must say i prefer the Alpine one LOL

Anonymous said...

If you need better pictures to choose see
Debbie's webshtos album
- she has done both.

For me, I already have Evening in the Park, but I Alpine Seasons too, particularly after seeing the pictures.

Patricia said...

Hi Sally ... I'm doing Chat Mystery IV as well with DMC and I was unsure until I had finished the bow. I think it actually has more depth (look at it from a distance) than the bows stitched with the original fibres. Don't give up on it!

Stitchingranny said...

Sally I can see what you mean about the bow colours but I think when it is all complete you really wont see the difference and it will just fade into shading. At the moment you are looking at the bow as an individual item and not part of the whole, I would just stick with it.

I love both the Alpine and the Evening and can understand your dilema. I ended up with Taj Mahal for the simple reason we love India, but I was dithering between that one, Alpine and think the other was Waterlillies or Water Garden. I just have to order the beads and things and then I hope to be adding that one to my rota.

Paula said...

Sally I think your Christmas piece is stunning so far...well done with it.
Hmmm oh dear you do have a dilemma don't you?? lol The only way to sort that out Sally is to treat yourself to both!
Huggles and happy stitching....

Hazel said...

I think your ribbon shading is actually nicer than the others. I think it looks more blended and nicer shades. They are all completely different though so I wouldn't worry. As for the Alpine and eve in the park, well, they are stunning. I couldn't decide.
xx

jane said...

I think your Chatelaine looks fine Sally, mind you that one on the pink fabric is stunning! As for stitching another, I came to the decision a while ago that I would never get enough pleasure from stitching Martina's designs to justify the outlay but I know lots of people do and every now and then I see one that still tempts me..lol

Nancy in IL said...

Sally, I'm going to put up my vote with Hazel. I think the bow's shading on yours is much more realistic. Before I even knew what you were going to write, I was sitting here admiring the bow (because it does jump out at you first) and thinking how realistic it looked. When I see the deep color of the expensive thread in the lower folds, it's way too dark for the rest of the bow. Relax.... it's just lovely!!!

Anonymous said...

Hello Sally,

Chatelaine Christmas Mistery IV looks good to me. I know I'm no expert, but I think the ribbon shading is a question of personal taste. It looks fine to me - maybe when it's finished and hung on a wall, the shading will seem less drastic than it does to you now.

Rebecca x