Ugh, please forgive my wonky camera. This photo was taken yesterday 3/26/2009!!
Wait, sorry, back to what's important: I have completed Cinderella Sampler!!!!!!!! I feel an almost sinful pride in this, it really is quite gorgeous. Most of that goes to the designer, Kim from Willow Hill Samplings, of course. But this was my first big project and I feel some sense of accomplishment as well.
Some details: It is stitched on 40(!) ct. Sandstone Linen with threads from The Gentle Art and Crescent Colors. Like many creatures, I have a bit of a "thing" for shiny objects so silly me went ahead and used some Pearl Blending Filament in some parts. When I started I felt it was a little bit of hubris for me to tackle such a project. I was only a few months into my new hobby and here I was doing my first project on linen, and a high count at that. So why not make it a little bit more difficult and work with the blending filament? I am not prone to cursing in normal conversation but I think a few choice words slipped out while working with the kreinik.
Overall, this took me nearly five months to stitch. Eh, in reality maybe two and a half. Not too long after I started, I put it on hold for a SAL, a couple of exhanges and Christmas stuff. It is not a whole lot of stitching, most of the thread colors I have nearly half the skein left. The work in this one was the counting and double counting and the triple counting and then the ripping out of stitches because mistakes were still made.
However, the most wonderful part of this whole project remains the wonderful soul on the i-love-cross-stitch group who RAK'ed (RAK=Random Act of Kindness) me the fabric and the threads. I will remain eternally grateful. I plan to do a pay-it-forward specifically related to this design in the near future but I do not now if I'll ever be able to completely pass on the joy I received from that gift.
Below are a couple close-ups featuring the sparkly thread!
