Thursday, January 23, 2014

Cottages are Finished!!!

Well it took twice as long (1 year longer) than the year it was supposed to in order to finish these lovely little cottages. But at least they didn't become a UFO. Which is a goal in my world. lol!

I did change many things about these cottages but the spirit of them is definitely still there. The biggest change of course being making July into a Canada Day celebration instead of Fourth of July festivities. I'm lucky that Canada celebrates our 'independance day' only 3 days before the US.The Kreniek that is in the sky of each cottage was also added by me. And then some other color changes and things.

So without due, on Lambswool Linen from Lakeside Linens, 40ct, 1 over 2 threads. Here is the cottage of the month series from Country Cottages (click on photo to see larger):
 And a couple angle shots from the most recent row:


I have no idea what I'm going to do with this piece as it doesn't work in our home at all. It may become a donation item to a charity auction in the fall. I have done this with two pieces in the past (get them framed and then donate) and they both made some good money (a few hundred dollars each) for the respective charity. Unless another idea or thought comes to mind. Or as with many other finishes it might just collect dust in my "finishes" box. 

So with Cottages out of the way I went on a hunt for a project I put aside to work on them.
Counting Bats by Just Nan. I had one of the 8 sections completed when I stopped. And I really do want to finish this, if only because I bought the entire silk set for it (which was crazy expensive) so I feel like I should finish it. I'm hoping it doesn't take too long so I can move onto a new start soon too! Photos of progress coming in the next couple weeks.

Progress on Dragons is a bit slow but happening. To date I have been working on Dragons mostly on weekend time so it gives me a 'set' time to dedicate to them.

The postings for Stitch from Stash are starting to roll in. Wanna see how others are doing? Check it out by clicking the link  above to "Stitch from Stash" and you'll see the list of bloggers. 

31 comments:

Jan Gartlan said...

Love cottages!!! Well done

Gillie said...

Love the cottages and I shall be cross if they gather dust! A donation sounds excellent. Will do my money post tomorrow,

Lonneke said...

The cottages are lovely. I hope they don't end up collecting dust!

Cande - Anillos y Botones said...

Beautiful cottages, I like them!!

Kate said...

Gorgeous finish on the cottages

Mii Stitch said...

What a sweet finish! These little cottages look adorable :)

lynda said...

This looks lovely, Mel! I have all of those cottages too and meant o stitch them at the time one per month. Only got February finished...hmmmm...maybe I should dig it out and display it next month at least!

Denise SA said...

Well done on finishing the cottages

Kris said...

Lovely! I like that you personalized it for Canada Day.

Carissa said...

Looks great Mel!

Sara said...

Hi love your cottages, and what a great idea to turn the July into Canada celebration (it's such a pity that designers don't offer an alternative for that month) and I can't wait to see your progress on the Bats :)

Brigitte said...

Oh, absolutely stunning, your finish. Congratulations!

Linda said...

Congrats on the gorgeous finish Mel. Are you sure you can't hang it in your house somewhere. It is to pretty to giveaway.

Linda

Rose B said...

Oh that looks awesome!!!!! Love what you have done with them. I too am working on these....you will see when you read my SFS report for the month of January. I have made changes in colors to better personalize these as well. They are quite fun to do and I plan to do all 12. I have 3 done now.

Unknown said...

Great stitching!

Vicky L said...

The Cottages are beautiful! Great job on them.

Pull the other thread said...

What a great finish. They all look great.

Unknown said...

Lôve it.the cottages are so cute

Bekca said...

It looks brilliant Mel! Congratulations on such a wonderful finish :)

Susan said...

Congratulations on a great finish. Love the changes you made. I have several pieces that are gathering dust because they don't fit anywhere, but I just *had* to stitch them. A donation sounds the perfect thing.

Sherry said...

Great stitching! Unfortunately I was too late to sign up for your SFS challenge but I plan to do it along with you anyway on my own blog.

Shebafudge said...

Looks stunning! Congratulations!

Tricia T said...

Great job on the finish! I have a large box of those finishes that I need to frame and haven't, too. In fact, I think my children's birth samplers are in there... they're in college now... LOL!!

KimM said...

Love your blog - just found it via SOCal Debbie.
Looking forward to joining the Stitch from Stash group next year to help me whittle away at my stash - HA! In the meantime, will watch all the progress.
KimM
wisdomwithneedleandthread.blogspot.com

Tiffstitch said...

Congratulations!! That's amazing.

Unknown said...

I like the change to July, it turned out beautifully. I would hate to see it collecting dust... but I really like the idea of donating them to charity... I will have to check into that for future reference.

Dani - tkdchick said...

Congrats on finishing your cottages!

Christina G said...

Have you listed your completed pieces somewhere for sale? I am sure someone would be willing to purchase one or more. Even unframed, I am sure they would be lovely. Your cottages are lovely...don't let them gather dust! Hugs, Christina

Meari said...

Wow, that's beautiful.

Theresa said...

It's beautiful - how big did they turn out on 40 count? I did mine on 32 count and it turned out quite big! I changed a couple of the charts a bit too - July and November as I'm in the UK.

Jo said...

Love, love, love the cottages. Congratulations x