Ewa! Your mini mandala is looking great! I think your eyelets are fine. I had trouble with mine but that was due to the stiff fabric. I should've chosen a more flexible fabric like yours.I thought the colours were odd too, but it works when you put it all together, that's the genius of Martina! Can't wait to see your GM get started!! Love the beads! Not sure about scrolls either. I think people use a scrap of fabric to baste their stitching onto the scroll. Great College progress!!
Great start on the rose garden! And I love all those beads. I can't wait to see your Greek mandala started :) Good luck with all the stitching on College.
I use a hoop for the majority of my projects. I did buy some scroll rods that use the handi clamp to attach the fabric. That works really well but it is not tight enough for me on the sides. I am getting used to it as I can stitch faster on the scroll rods. I have also bought the velcro kit to make my regular split rod scroll fames easier to attached fabric and I am using that for my first HAED - Little fairies at Play.
Tiny Rose looks great, Ewa!! Man, those GM beads are so drool worthy. :D
College is coming along nicely, and you never know about finishing it in Dec. I think when you hit big patches of color, those will go so quickly.
Regarding the scroll frame, I use painter's tape to secure the fabbie to the rod. They leave no residue and holds nicely and securely. What you do when you're setting the fabbie on the rods is to make sure the fabbie is straight. So, if your rod has a slit on it, line up the slit with a straight row of thread on your fabbie.
As for keeping it taut, I use these: http://www.marthas-crafts.com/product_info.php?products_id=626
Your mandala is looking good! I'm a hoop girl, too. I despise scroll rods. I did the Christmas mandala a few years ago with a hoop and didn't have any problems. I always save the beads for last and don't tighten up the hoop enough to crush the beads. I don't think I would recommend Qsnaps, though. Can't wait to see your progress.
I use a Tomorrow's Treasures lap stand from American Dream Products (http://www.adp-usa.com/product.asp?itemid=1097) and love, love, LOVE it! It's a bit pricey, but it's pretty and easy and comfortable to use.
College is looking great, good luck with it! And if you don't get it finished for next Christmas (over 10 000 stitches per month is a lot), then at least you'll be sure to get it done by Christmas 2013, right?
14 December, 2011 14:28
I hate scroll frames. Blasphemous, I know. But I really do. I've been working with a hoop ever since I started stitching. I love my hoop. But I realize that with Greek Mandala and all the silks and beading that's not going to be possible. I probably won't be starting GM for another couple of months, or however long it takes me to gather all the silks, but I'm already having nightmares about scroll frames.
I think my problems are (1) that I don't know how to mount the fabric appropriately so that it doesn't get distorted and (2) it doesn't keep the fabric taught enough for me. So there you go. I've been working on Tiny Rose Garden Mandala on a scroll frame. BLAIREOIGEUTGHOWUGT.
Tantrum over. Here's how TRGM looks so far:
[Image]
A Tiny Rose Garden Mandala by Chatelaine Designs (freebie)
Stitching on 32 count Hardanger
2 threads over 2
DMC, Thread Gatherer Silk n'Colors and Mill Hill Seed Beads
I'm still kind of unsure about the colors there. It just doesn't feel like it looks right. My Algerian Eyelets still need work. Practice makes perfect, I guess. Greek Mandala will certainly give me a run for my money...
Speaking of Greek Mandala, my beads and fabric arrived a little while ago and I snuck a photo before they were put away for Christmas:
[Image]
Look at all those beads! YEESH! The fabric is in the background.
Also, I spent the past couple of days at Boyfriend's, which means College!
Before:
[Image]
After:
[Image]
College of Magical Knowledge by James Christensen from Heaven and Earth Designs
Stitching on 25 count antique white Evenweave
1 thread over 1 with DMC
I do have a bit of bad news about College, though. I did the math and if I want to get this done by Christmas of next year (which I do) I would have to stitch just under 10,000 stitches a month. Including December. Of course, my math could be wrong, but if it's not, then I'm screwed. Yikes. We'll see how it goes. I'm not going to give up, I just can't be disappointed if I don't finish.
And last (but certainly not least) IHSW! Go and sign up! Click on the adorable little hermit crab on the right side under "Labels." I'll be working on Mario this IHSW, so before picture will be posted Friday!
Until then, Happy Stitching!
7 Comments
Close this window Jump to comment formAt least you use a hoop. I just bunch my fabric up in my hands which gets a little difficult. College is looking great.
13 December, 2011 21:11
Ewa! Your mini mandala is looking great! I think your eyelets are fine. I had trouble with mine but that was due to the stiff fabric. I should've chosen a more flexible fabric like yours.I thought the colours were odd too, but it works when you put it all together, that's the genius of Martina! Can't wait to see your GM get started!! Love the beads! Not sure about scrolls either. I think people use a scrap of fabric to baste their stitching onto the scroll. Great College progress!!
13 December, 2011 23:53
Great start on the rose garden! And I love all those beads. I can't wait to see your Greek mandala started :) Good luck with all the stitching on College.
14 December, 2011 06:06
I use a hoop for the majority of my projects. I did buy some scroll rods that use the handi clamp to attach the fabric. That works really well but it is not tight enough for me on the sides. I am getting used to it as I can stitch faster on the scroll rods. I have also bought the velcro kit to make my regular split rod scroll fames easier to attached fabric and I am using that for my first HAED - Little fairies at Play.
14 December, 2011 10:02
Tiny Rose looks great, Ewa!! Man, those GM beads are so drool worthy. :D
College is coming along nicely, and you never know about finishing it in Dec. I think when you hit big patches of color, those will go so quickly.
Regarding the scroll frame, I use painter's tape to secure the fabbie to the rod. They leave no residue and holds nicely and securely. What you do when you're setting the fabbie on the rods is to make sure the fabbie is straight. So, if your rod has a slit on it, line up the slit with a straight row of thread on your fabbie.
As for keeping it taut, I use these: http://www.marthas-crafts.com/product_info.php?products_id=626
Works like a charm. :)
14 December, 2011 10:27
Your mandala is looking good! I'm a hoop girl, too. I despise scroll rods. I did the Christmas mandala a few years ago with a hoop and didn't have any problems. I always save the beads for last and don't tighten up the hoop enough to crush the beads. I don't think I would recommend Qsnaps, though. Can't wait to see your progress.
14 December, 2011 12:27
I use a Tomorrow's Treasures lap stand from American Dream Products (http://www.adp-usa.com/product.asp?itemid=1097) and love, love, LOVE it! It's a bit pricey, but it's pretty and easy and comfortable to use.
College is looking great, good luck with it! And if you don't get it finished for next Christmas (over 10 000 stitches per month is a lot), then at least you'll be sure to get it done by Christmas 2013, right?
14 December, 2011 14:28