Indecision Overcome.....

 

 

 

More Re-doing.....

I am Sure you won't be surprised, Dear Readers, to see more of the Castle Stone Re-building project in all it's rough and imprecise details, since that has been the story for a while in my Mini World. The Vaulted ceiling in the Dungeon also needed its arch supports strengthened. Above you can see the beginnings....  I have turned on the Flash for my camera so you can actually see what I am talking about. It makes everything look horrible... and you can clearly see all the inadequacies of my earlier construction and the irregularities of my painting! I hope you can overlook the piles of bones.... this is the "Ossarium" for the ancient Chapel which has stood here for Ages. Fortunately, adding the "stone" vault supports has become rather Formulaic.... that is to say easy... and it went quickly with no problems.

All it needs now is the grout lines added.

And this would be the final arch to re-do.... 

unless I decided to re-do the Stables too.

Which you can see here.

And I left them for Last because I was Undecided! 

The painted arches looked fine! (I told myself.)

It is way too deep in there to reach! (I told myself.)

Nobody can even See way back there! (I told myself)

But the Stable Door needs its stone framework done! (I told myself.)

And that will make the Arch supports look terrible! (I admitted reluctantly.)

I didn't want to leave this as the Only Castle Room unfinished! (I reminded myself.)

And the arch supports aren't that difficult! (I reminded myself.)

Which meant I would have to knuckle down and just get it done!

But when I started to add the arch support stones 

I made an alarming discovery....

The vaulted ceiling didn't quite meet the wall!

 And the crack was wide enough to make adding the "stone" supports tricky... 

they could disappear into that crack!

(This picture was taken after I had already added supports 

to the corner posts... hiding part of the gap!)

You can see here, more clearly, the added corner posts... 

I decided that the foundation itself needed to be "strengthened".

Otherwise the stronger "vaulting" would look out of scale.

And with the last section of the "post" added... it just needs the grout painted.

Then I added a strip of "vaulted ceiling" to the crack....

 (painted the dark gray) 

and then I could add the support stones!

Of course, I also needed to "strengthen" the other corner post.....

 back there where it was Really Really difficult to reach.... 

let alone see what I was doing!

Which is why I only managed to get half way across one section of the Vaulting!

But I am glad I decided to tackle this.

 I am making the whole structure better in the process!

And that is all I am going to show for now, Dear Readers, 

because I am not enjoying the New Blogger!

I have not managed to make my pictures fit.....

Which is more than annoying!

Well.... I'll just show you the next stitching I have started ..... 

although it is requiring re-doing as well....!

It is a Medieval style wall hanging....

but I counted wrong when starting the second lady's hair....

I am having to unstitch all of her!

And my frame isn't really big enough... 

so I've ordered another one!

Re-doing seems to be my new Normal!

I hope you all are faring well and making minis....!

Stitches And Stones......

 

 

 

Soothing Patterns.....

I Don't Know about you, Dear Readers, but I am finding the rhythmic process of stitching to be a very Soothing activity in these trying times. The minute I finish one piece of stitching I want to start another. And it is almost the same with the Stones for the Castle doors and windows. There is a sameness to the construction and a predictable outcome, with minor variations. I don't have to think too hard or figure out complicated new processes, I just need to keep applying myself to the job of making little "stones" to fit the door surrounds. It's a good thing that I have a whole batch of little stitching kits waiting for me, and a Whole Castle full of unfinished doors and windows! The current batch of "stones can be seen under construction below......

Exciting....! Right?

Well, there was a Little bit of Drama about installing them.....

I had to Negotiate with Slitherwing to get access to the Dungeon doors!

I can't reveal the Terms we agreed upon.....

But I managed to get the stones done.

 I think the doors are looking good, 

all they need are the grout lines repainted.

Slitherwing didn't want me to get any closer to the Dungeon....

Here you can see where I need to repaint the grout lines around the doorways... 

but the Stones are in place.

It is really difficult to reach the Inner Dungeon

 even without Slitherwing in the way!

 

As for the Stitching, Dear Readers, 

The Prayer Rug is coming along quickly. 

(It is a small carpet)

It is such a Beautiful pattern!

I Love the colors, the theme, the Patterns...

I want to make more and learn to design them too!

But Meanwhile, I will just keep Stitching...!

 

And as for the New Blogger.... Grrrrr.....

I am coming to the conclusion that I will have to redesign the whole blog template....

 it appears to be the wrong structure for the new photo format,

 and I don't know how to adjust it. 

So don't be too surprised if things are different here one of these days...

When I figure it out.....

Sigh

Rocks and Rugs.....

 

 

 

On the Edge.... 

I suspect, Dear Readers, that my photos are going to run over into the edges of my blog template again. I have no idea why they are doing this, or how to fix it! Please be patient while I try to learn New Blogger-ese. Meanwhile, You can see in the picture how close to finished this little rug was when I last showed it to you. I quickly completed the petit-point and then I had to learn some new techniques to complete the rug itself. It needed hemming and a fringe added to the ends.

Here you can see the stitching is done. And the hemming not yet started.

This is the carpet along with the "cover" picture showing the fringe.

I have hemmed one side of the carpet.

Here both sides have been hemmed, but I need to add the fringe. 

I thought I would test it with one of Sally May's parlor chairs.

 I think they go well together!

Here I have started the fringe stitch. It is trickier than it looks!

It is hard to hold the rug and the thread and the loops all at once.

 Like many things, it gets easier with practice.

 But I still have not finished it.

Instead, I started another small Rug!

It is hard to tell what the pattern is just from this!

This rug is a little smaller than the previous one.

 It is a Lovely little Prayer Rug!

It is zipping right along!

It was at about this point that I started to want to make

 a few tiny adjustments to the design... 

mostly in the color placement.

The kit provides only one color of green for the leaves and vines.

I wanted the leaves to stand apart from the vines.... 

and I had greens of several shades left from the previous rug!

Why not swap out the colors?

I debated with myself about following the directions of the kit....

Then decided to add the darker color for the leaves.

I think it looks better this way!

And the other tiny change I made is in the border... 

the "peach" colored blobs... are they roses? were just supposed to be peach. 

I thought they might need a center "eye" of a different color...

 I chose the light green.

I'm glad I did! I think it adds just a tiny layer of interest to the edge!

As for the Rocks.... I spent all weekend again, 

making the pieces to surround more of the kitchen doorways... 

and more for the arched ceiling frames in the Pannetry and The Buttlery. 

But these are dark little rooms and really hard to photograph. 

It was too hot and I didn't take any pictures.

I will have to do a catch up post on them when they are done.

And as for the fringe for the first rug....

I started the other edge!

It's a bit like the Rocks, Dear Readers... 

not as much fun as the stitching.... 

But it has to be done!

So I'm working on the Edges.

(I am not enjoying this New Blogger......)

Shelter From The Storm.....

What A Castle Is For......

I do Not have a lot to show you this week, Dear Readers. The weekend was filled with small progress on the "Rock" making and not many photos to show for it. It was also filled with the dire warnings of Tropical Storm Isaias' potential march up the East Coast to the Northern regions of the country where I live! Every now and then a Hurricane comes calling in New England, often with serious consequences. (Remember Irene? Sandy?) Isaias threatened to take a similar track. I live over one hundred miles from the coast, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't prepare for trees to come down and power to go out. The track was supposed to go close to where I live.... close enough to cause trouble. What to do? On Tuesday when it was clear we would be getting a storm, I decided to gather many of the Little People in the safest part of my house.... The Castle!

You might be surprised to see who arrived....

The Cloud Palace Gang decided to hang out

in The Guard Room with Guard Ian.

I apologize for the poor lighting and the hasty photos...

the Storm was marching north!

Tommy and Caroline and Beatrice brought Snowy with them.

Henry and Belle and Old Meg are deep in the shadows.

They are not worried. They know

the Castle has stood for Hundreds of years!

The Little Dreamers have joined the Witches in The Great Hall.

All the hounds are there and the fire will keep them warm.

Over at The Lovely Old Dollhouse,

the Family was deciding to shelter in Place.

Sally May and Chip and Annabelle had come to join them.

This House was located at the Safe end of the Valley, after all.

And The Wizard had gathered some of the more vulnerable strays....

You really never know who you will meet in a Shelter!

There wasn't Time to prepare for much!

The tornadoes went by to The West and The East

and The North and The South!

But here, All was calm....

until the Storm had raced to the North...

and Then there was Wind and rain!

Only a Few branches came down

and nobody was hurt at my house.

We didn't even lose Power!

But I am Glad, Dear Readers,

The Castle is here

to take Shelter from the Storm!

(I Don't know why my photos are so big....!?!)

(Darn new blogger.....)