Rocks And Rugs...

 

 And Elephants Too....!

I Know you will be getting tired, Dear Readers, of seeing more Castle Rock construction pictures! it is a long and tedious process and the Castle is a Large structure! To do it justice, I mustn't skimp on the building just because I am tired of it! You might have noticed that The Lord's Bed Chamber had another window on the side wall right at the front (and two more on the opening wall doors, but they will be much later) that it could be assumed would also have seats in the embrasure. As I said before, this Castle is Large, and the window openings start at 4 inches (4 feet in mini scale) off the floor. The ceiling of the chamber is 12 inches high (12 feet in scale) and it all must be kept in proportion. I needed a model to show the scale, and Charles was willing to come by and test the window seats. The seats themselves are a step up from floor level, making the view out the window a practical height for an adult. I needed to make sure I was leaving enough room between the seats for a "person" to stand comfortably.

Here, you can see it in better light.

(There have been a lot of cloudy days lately!)

Here you can see it in reference to the rest of the room.

This window is larger because

 I had to reduce the size of the ones

 on the back wall to fit below the stairs.

The seats are basically the same size,

 even though they look so much larger!

Here is a view from above with the top ceiling removed.

You can see the structure of the spiral stairs

 as well as the stairs from below on the left.

The bed will fit in the section between

 the front window and the spiral stairs.

 

Just this many "rocks" took an amazing amount

 of fiddling and adjusting to fit right!

But I got them glued in place and a coat of primer on them.

As for the Rugs, Dear Readers, I imagine you have guessed

 that it didn't take long for me to start stitching another one!

(No, I have not quite finished the fringe stitch on the last one!)

Exciting, Right?

I know this is a tease... but from Humble beginnings....

And yes, some patterns are a bit tedious to work.

They have you start in the center.... 

so I wanted to get some of all the colors in the design

at least to see how they relate to each other.

This is another of Janet Granger's designs.

This is the picture on the kit package.

 I know the colors must be a little off in the photograph,

 because the central area has the rose pink for the background.

 I am eager to see how it looks as it comes together.

This is as far as I have gotten. 

Yes, I am turbo stitching!

And what about the Elephants, you are wondering?

Well, the Elephant Tea Cozy had to

 audition a spot in the Doll Maker's Studio...

(It was a gloomy morning...)

The Elephant looks wonderful with the colors of this room!

But that was definitely not the correct teapot!

I had to hunt through all my boxes...

And I found her!

(I need to get better pictures!)

The Elephant Cozy does fit over

 the Elephant Teapot, just barely!

But I can't bear to cover it up!

So that's all I accomplished on my Week-end, Dear Readers,

A Couple more Rocks, Another Rug begun,

And the Elephants!

Fringes And Tassels....

 

 Finishing Details.....

I Completed the Fringe on the lovely antique carpet, Dear Readers, but it seems that I haven't yet found a good photo location for getting good pictures of this beautiful project. You might be aware that it doesn't quite have a "destination" in any of my current projects! How could this be, you ask? Well, I was given this kit completely unexpectedly by a co-worker who was given it with a bunch of quilting materials. It is fairly large by doll house standards, being 8 inches by ten inches. Unless it is to cover the entire floor, the room has to be a good bit larger, which is rare in kits. My Castle has large floor areas, but they are usually "inhabited" in the Medieval times when these carpets were not yet discovered. Add to that the reluctance to cover the entire carpet with furnishings and obscure the beautiful pattern. So, this is a puzzle I will have to solve! For now, be assured that it is finished, fringe and all, and I just love the way it turned out!

And by the time I was finished with all that fringe, I had become rather good at the "fringe stitch" which led me to start the fringe on another carpet I had completed months ago and never showed you.

I believe I was working on this carpet last summer

 and had decided to change the design just a little bit from the kit instructions.

It is one of Janet Granger's kits and the

 central medallion was much simpler in her design.

There were only the red roses and fewer leaves, 

and the whole was surrounded with an area that

 had scattered single stitches of the pale pink in the pale ground.

I just didn't like those dots of pale pink!

But I felt it needed something in all that space...

 but perhaps I went overboard

 and put too much "something" in the space...!

Anyway, I added all those pale pink roses

 and scattered buds

 and pale leaves...

I will admit it might not be my best design alteration.

And I am sure Sally May will love it anyway... 

once I get it done and into her Living room!

All it needs is the fringes... 

which I had been procrastinating about

 while I stitched other carpets.

So I've made a start!

But Heaven knows, one can't Only do the fringe stitch!

So I've also been finishing

 the little Elephant Tea Cozy!

The instruction page is generic for the "tea cosy kits"

 and doesn't show the Elephant.

It says to stitch the two sides together

 using the thread of the background color.

Well, the Elephant is the background except around his legs!

I decided it would look terrible to have either a green stripe

 all along the back of the Elephant and down his face,

 or the gray stripe running up through the grass at the bottom!

So I carefully stitched with green at the bottom

 and gray all the rest of the way around.

Here the sides have been stitched together, 

but I didn't get a good shot of the seam... 

the light is too much from the side and the Elephant kept falling over!

And ever since I started this kit, 

I have felt that it would need to have

 a "Tassel" as a handle at the top.

And when I used the glittery embroidery threads

 to add some sparkle to the saddle,

 it seemed obvious that they would also serve for the tassel.

I have started to make one in the above picture...

 can you spot it there?

And I wanted it to attach with beads...

Which was a little tricky, 

because I hadn't thought it through...

which end attached to which part first....

But I think I made something that works!

(Unless you think it looks like a rather large night-cap...!?)

I do think it is rather cute! 

Even though it still tips over too easily....

Perhaps he is just missing the right teapot to cover!

As you can see, Dear Readers,

 I have been getting very carried away

 with the finishing details... 

Fringes and Tassels just add so much!

Vaulting...

 

 

Finished....

I Left you last week, Dear Readers, with the "vaulted" ceiling in the back corner just begun. As sometimes happens, one forgets to take any more "in progress" pictures until the job is completed, and then suddenly the work appears finished as if by magic! In this case, it was not a lot of work, and not interesting work, cutting stone pieces to fit, stacking them so they cantilever over the open space, and painting them to turn them to "rock". It was done in no time! Above you can see the results in the morning light. They are not "shaped" to make a smooth continuous arch, but are more rough and step-like as they stack upon each other. But the principle is the same. Gravity keeps them from falling because most of their weight stays on the rock below, and with the decreasing size of the opening as they close in at the top, their "lateral force" keeps them in place against the other side of the vault. Simple physics! (But I did use glue!) Here, I will show you a closer shot....

Here you can see the first two layers stacked

 and the ceiling and arch out of the way.

And with the third layer in place.

All that was left to add in this corner

 were the stones at the corners of the window.

Which you can see added here.

It took longer to fit those corner stones 

than the entire vaulted part!

And the other corner, where the tower stairs spiral upward

 only needed a few small details.

With the door wall removed you can sort of see

 that the "doorpost" on the left was very uneven

 where it tucked close to the stairs.

(The flash was needed again)

There was a lot of carving off millimeters from edges

 of the door frame where it meets the stair wall to make it fit well.

And the hinges needed their sculpey "hinge straps" added.

And the brass parts painted black.

And I needed to finish all the parts of this door

 before gluing the wall in place.

Including a "ring handle" on the inside.

I couldn't find a plain simple one in my stash,

 so I improvised with a jump ring and some wire.

(And neglected to take a picture!)

Here you can see the door wall is finally glued in place!

(Yikes!)

And I have begun to add the stones which surround the door.

And here you can see the door opens!

(Yes, it needs some touch-ups!)

And if you look closely,

 you can see the improvised ring handle.

I still need to complete the stones that surround the door frame.

 And a few more at the top where the wall meets the stairs.

But I believe I can say the Tower Spiral Stairs are Finished!

Of course, the access at the top of the Tower is still not done....

but it will be a while before I get to that step!

I am So glad, Dear Readers, 

that I decided to try to make these Spiral Stairs work!

A Few More Rocks....

 

And a Little More Fringe...

Well, Dear Readers, It was one of those weekends where RL tasks infringed on the Mini-making time and left me feeling as though Almost nothing got done! But as we know, this Castle building is a slow process, so any progress is worthy of notice! And I hope you won't mind if I show you a picture of the Lord's bedchamber as it looked early in the morning before anything had been done.... the morning light is the best light in this part of my house. As you can see, I had started to construct the window seats on the left side of the hearth, but nothing was painted, and only some of it was glued in place. But the natural light helps make it clear that this corner is really a small alcove off the room. All it needed was the bench seat along the left wall. But since the lower parts would be difficult to paint after the seat was attached, I decided to begin with the painting.

Here you can see I have started by removing all the unattached parts.

And it has become a dark day, so the flash is needed to see anything at all!

This is a slightly closer view.

And in case anyone wondered why I have only painted

 the parts of the "rock" that will be visible,

 it is because the bare wood takes glue

 better than the painted surface,

 so the bond will be stronger when glued!

(Yes, there is some reason to my madness!)

And the next morning, with the Hearth in place... 

and a slightly gloomier morning...

The bench along the wall is in position, but not yet glued.

And here you can see all the benches are painted to look like "rocks"...

 and they are even glued in place! 

(Why wait?!)

A couple more little "rocks" have been added to

 the gap between the stairs and the hearth on the right.

And if you look carefully, you can see I have begun to add the "rocks"

 which will make the vaulted ceiling over the benches on the left.

And here the side wall of the Chamber

 which separates it from the stairs below, 

is also in place, making the nook much more hidden.

When you step back, you can get a better sense of the whole room.

 The whole back wall will really be a series of alcoves in the Tower walls.

And as for the carpet fringe, Dear Readers, it is slow going.

But it, too, is Progress!

Rock by Rock and stitch by stitch, 

I will get it done!