More Of The Same.....

 

 

 

Stones and Stitches.... 

You Might recall, Dear Readers, that I was needing to unstitch a good portion of my work on this Medieval Ladies Tapestry. It is another kit by Janet Granger. I have indulged my current passion for Petit-point stitching by purchasing a whole bunch of her kits. As I am gradually moving on to stitching larger items that require a Real embroidery frame (I feel so Grown up!) I have at last also purchased a stand to hold the heavier frames. It does take some getting used to! But more importantly, I have to confess that I am also altering her kit design just a tiny bit. (I have done this a couple times before now as well.) In this case the Lady on the left had a hairstyle which I thought was too modern looking.... I wanted to emphasize the Medieval nature of the project, so I changed the hairstyle a little bit. I will show you the details later. For now you can see that at least I have positioned her correctly in relation to the Lady on the right! You would be surprised how much difference one row to the right or left can make in the end! I am double checking my "counting" constantly with this one.... and "reverse stitching" quite a bit too! But progress is being made.

Here you can see a bit of the stand that holds the frame.... 

I will have to take a better shot of it.

And the ladies are beginning to look like themselves!

I have already identified a place where

 I missed just one stitch of the brown thread....!

 Just one stitch!

I have to figure out how to get just one stitch in where it is missing.

As for the Stones.... progress is slow.

I thought for sure I would get the arch supports

 in the Stables all finished this weekend... 

 

 

but then I ran out of the lumber I was using....

just two "stones" shy of completing one of the arches.

I thought I had lots more of the same material,

 but the dimensions turned out to be just a tiny bit different!

They were even labeled as the same size "stock"

 but when placed side by side you could clearly tell

 they were not the same!

 

I went back to the local Home Depot to get some more

 if I could find any the right size,

 but I couldn't find any more.  

When I got home I found one more piece in my stash that was the right size!

I swear I had looked five times and not found it!

So I was able to complete the arch with the same size stock after all.

And I have enough to make the arch on the remaining wall as well.

As you can see, none of the "grout lines" have been painted yet.

And once the Vault support stones were in place,

 I could continue with the door surround stones.

 These will need to be fitted carefully against the Vault support arch.

I still have not added the door handles to these doors!

Here is the Stables as it stands today.

The left side Arch Support stones still need to be added.

And the stones for the Door Surround in the side door too.

And all the grout lines will need repainting.

But, Truly, Dear Readers, I can't tell you

 how happy I am with all this Stone Work!

I turn the Castle lights on at night and just sit in front of it

 and move from room to room

 admiring the sturdy Castle-like feel of the structure!

Doors.... Windows.... Shutters..... Vaulted Ceilings...... 

it is just so Wonderfully Medieval!

And here is a better (sort of) picture of the Embroidery stand....

It has a whole series of adjustable joints

 so you can position it in a great variety of ways 

to suit your every need!

And the Tapestry as it now stands....

I still have a long way to go.

But that is the Fun of it, Dear Readers!

It might be just More of the Same....

But Stitch by stitch and Stone by stone

It adds up to a Whole Castle....

And I am Loving how it is turning out!

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

Painting .....

Castle Doors Continued....

The Castle, Dear Readers, is my first Scratch built Dollhouse, and as such it has the advantages that come with being designed by an optimistic Dreamer, and also the disadvantages of being designed by an optimistic Dreamer! To begin with, it is large.... because Castles Are large by definition... and because I didn't want to be disappointed later if I "pared down" my real estate! And it is built by hand with only the barest minimum of "real" tools, and using the most readily available materials. Because my original childhood experience of dollhouses is based on The Lovely Old Dollhouse, which was built by my grandfather from plywood.... it seemed only natural that my first real attempt would also be made of plywood. The business of making raw plywood appear to be ancient stone did not seem an obstacle at all! Miracles could be accomplished with paint! This was before I had any experience of egg-carton rock or paperclay surfaces... let alone any idea at all about sculpey and other modern mediums. This was the Dark Ages! I forged forward with gusto, and you can read about my early construction in the early posts of this blog.... because the Castle was begun only two months before I started this blog. As many of you long time readers know.... I have not stuck to only one project... and have jumped again and again to newer ones, all the while learning many new techniques and materials. And here I am now, back at the Castle attempting to bring its construction forward at least a little bit! Which brings me back to the topic of this post...paint!

The castle doors that I am adding (at long last) to the fronts

 of the mostly completed lower rooms needed to be painted. 

And as most of you know, this always takes longer than you think it will...

 sanding.... primer coat... both sides! .... drying between coats... 

sanding again.... first coat of color.... both sides .... 

and then finally me recalling that the interior side of each door needed 

to be made to look like rocks.... like the rest of the interior of the castle!

Believe me, Dear Readers, I have often debated with myself 

as to whether I should apply some sort of "three dimensional" faux  rock 

to the interior surfaces of the Castle..... (like egg-cartons) 

and I have abandoned the idea as impractical at his point, 

given the size of the project and that 

half the Castle rooms are already "done"

 with only the painted illusion of rock.

So I am once again painting the "rock" walls ...

 in this case the inside of the front opening walls... 

hoping that the "illusion" holds up well enough on close inspection.

Above you can see the beginnings of the process on the stable doors.

 

 

The minimum number of tones needed to create the illusion of depth is three...

 one for the ground color, one for the shadows and one for the highlights.

It also relies on a "direction" for the source of the light.... 

which in this case is not really applicable as 

the "light" will come from different directions at different times.

So I compromised and assume a "direct front" light source. 

This diminishes shadows, so I resorted to two basic shades of gray 

and the white of the grout for the highlight color.

 Of course, the gray paint needed to dry before I could add any highlights.

And the kitchen doors too... with just the "rock" shapes roughed in....

trying to be realistic about structure.... 

although I have identified several places where my rocks

 are not placed right and in RL the Castle would fall down!

(This comes from planning window openings

 without taking into consideration rock courses....)

These are just the first layers of paint.... 

there will be more details of "rock texture" added at a later date....!

And then I add the "grout" lines.....

Just a line of white paint down the middle of the dark lines... 

creating the illusion of grout in a crevice... (I hope!)

Boring and tedious ... but not difficult.

 Here are the two halves of the door side by side to show the difference...

And both with the grout added..... 

it defines the rocks in a way that only two shades doesn't accomplish!

(Even when the "rocks" lack texture or variety.)

And the kitchen doors with the grout.....

And the dungeon doors too....!

 

And then Finally, Dear Readers, are we ready for the Hinges?

 

The stable doors are attached....!

 

And the first of the Kitchen doors....

And with the door open....

And the other door too!

And both open......

 

And the bigger picture.... 

all the lower rooms have their doors attached!

Shall we turn the lights on...?

And open the doors....?

Yes, the inside of the Pantry doors have not yet been made "rock"....!

And the unfinished Great Hall Ceiling still beckons......

And maybe I am getting a little closer to being ready to finish it too!

Painting of a different sort altogether!

And lest you think I have forgotten Dear Readers,

 

 

I also completed the eighteenth lilac blossom!

 

Count them if you like!

But I have to confess, Dear Readers,

 the more I make... the more I think I will need to make...!

This is a Loooong way from done.... like the Castle....

Painting on the doors and walls will take a long time...

But I will continue!