The Door to Moria

I received the best swap gift last week.  I genuinely could not have chosen a better hand made gift for myself.  So first of all Thank You to Starrley - go and check out her blog here .  
Now I was having dog issues when the postman knocked and I desperately needed to take my mind off of it so it couldn't have been better timed. ( Lets just say that our neighbours poodle got into our garden and my boxer was rather pleased to see her...nobody should have to deal with boxer/poodle love first thing in the morning!) Anyway...
The first thing I saw was a card with this image:

Now this was exciting enough as I love Dune, and when I listed it as  one of my best games/books etc I really didn't think many people would have got it. So this card alone cheered me up, then I look at the framed item and all I can say is WOW!!!

The Framed Door to Moria

This is so beautifully stitched and just looks so right in the frame. Also this was sent all the way from Texas so the fact that she actually added the frame is so lovely because it would have increased the postage by a ridiculous amount.

The Embroidered Door to Moria

The elvish on this is tiny and detailed and done so neatly.  I know that I am being overt with my praise but I still can't believe someone sent me this, so so so happy with it!
Also for a quick comparison, this was the image that it was based on:

The Door to Moria

If there was ever an incentive to hurry up and get my map done, this was it!

Middle Earth Update

Although I have a ridiculously long list of stuff that still needs to be done, I have concentrated on my LOTR map because I can see where it is going to go in our living room. 

Middle Earth

Mirkwood

These little trees are hideously tedious but I am very slowly getting there. I do it bit by bit so I don't give up. 

But other than that I am very positive about how this is turning out

On The Go...

My lovely Aunt managed to get me two gorgeous dragon cross stitch kits last week (photos to come I promise!) from her knitting group.  I love my dragons so I was thrilled. And I realised as I started one that I actually haven't done a kit in quite a while. I have tended to do smaller cross stitch projects for a specific purpose, with patterns from books. I forgot quite how nice it is to actually start a project with the aida to the right size and all the threads sorted out for you!

Obviously when my threads arrive for the Murloc square that is going to be my priority, but if I have dragon started then I can always pick it up and do half an hour or so...

Well that is the approach I take to quite a few projects...

And I started thinking of all my half finished projects on the go...

On the Go:

• Middle Earth Map (this is one that is going to take a while however I do it)
• North Country Quilt...still not done....oops
• Knitted jumper to be unpicked and fixed if possible
• New Dragon cross stitch 
• Popcorn kit that hasn't been touched since we moved because there wasn't enough thread in a particular colour and I haven't got round to getting it yet
• Footprints cross stitch - which needs alot of unpicking 
• TO BE STARTED Murloc square which needs to have 6"x6" cross stitched by August at latest
• ALSO am committed to knitting the hubby a cowl and hat for our holiday which starts 4th feb....

Oh dear! This list is actually not as long as it could be...but longer than it should be.

 So I think this year is the year to finish projects, and do all that pesky unpicking that needs doing.  I don't really do new years resolutions because if you don't keep them it's far too depressing. My new years resolution for 2011 was not to enter a hospital for the year - that didn't go so well.(I spent 3 months in and out of hospital last year before a doctor finally realised my appendix was in the wrong place!!!!) So this isn't so much as a resolution as a goal.

This year I want to achieve:

• Finish North Country Quilt 
• Do the Murloc square for the charity quilt(very proud of this one)
• Finish the pesky Popcorn kit that needs to be finished
• Either sort out the knitted jumper disaster OR have a finished knitted item that is wearable in an adult size
• Get the Dragon cross stitch done - because it would look gorgeous on our wall
• Make a large headway with Middle Earth. I don't mind if this one isn't done this time next year as long as it is over half way done.
• Complete my Child Development course with a decent pass

Hopefully these are realistic enough goals. What are yours?Also am I the only one with half a dozen unfinished projects or is that just part and parcel of being a crafter??

Map of Middle Earth:Mordor

Among trying to get Christmas craft stuff done in time, (pictures and posts to come) I have managed to get quite a bit of my Middle Earth map stitched. 

I haven't really used a hoop before, but with fabric this big I have found that actually it is the only way to be able to control my map.

 I find myself stitching this of an evening most nights, and must say that although there is a lot of it to do I am really enjoying it.  Because there is so much detail and different fonts and sizes of lettering, it doesn't get repetitive and so far this is how much I have got done.

 I am really really happy with Mordor. It looks quite impressive and I actually think you get the feeling of how Mordor is.

 I have tried a few different styles of stitching for the mountains (there are quite a lot of them) so thought I would dare a close up of some of them ....

All three of these have ended up looking completely different to each other, which has given different mountain ranges their own feel and personality which is a happy coincidence.
I don't think that I will be able to get much done this side of Christmas now but I will keep you updated and I will  should have some photos of Christmassy stuff coming up.
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SpriteStitch Swap

My Swappee got their gift this morning, so I can finally show you all what I've been busy doing!
I have absolutely loved being part of this swap, as it is the first that I have taken part in and Sprite Stitch is a really great little community.    
Firstly I made a needle book, with embroidery on the front and cross stitch inside:

This was quite an easy make, but looks good. This was all hand stitched, as my poor sewing machine is holed up in the corner at the moment, feeling very unloved.  I was initially going to do the whole thing out of felt, but decided that a fabric cover would be better.  I quite like the effect of mixing different fabrics and textures and I think I've pulled it off here.

Secondly I made a Pokemon Pincushion! Which I am actually really pleased with because it is soo cute! (What more can you ask for - cute and practical?!)

This was quite difficult to make, and is quite rough around the edges, but I don't think my swappee minds.
After I get all my making for Christmas out of the way I think  I am going to have to make myself the needle book.  But at the moment it is just going to have to go on the To Do pile which is getting a little bit too big for my liking.

Stitched Map of Middle Earth

I am going to stitch a map of Middle Earth. But first I needed to get the image across to my fabric, and I can announce that Middle Earth is (finally) on linen! Given the amount of time it has taken me and my better half to get this far I dread to think of the total man-hours that this project is going to require. However it is looking really good, if not somewhat big.

To put this into perspective, I had to stand on a chair to get this photo, and the linen and paper map cover my dining room table completely!
I am going to completely embroider Middle Earth before deciding on a border style although I am debating whether or not to make the border circular and repeat the elvish inscription from the One Ring as a border. However I think I may be biting off more than I can chew:

Inscription from The One Ring

I am going to leave any final decisions until I can see how everything looks stitched.  Which will probably be quite a while as
the detail involved in this map is ambitious to say the least.It does look rather impressive close up though:

Mordor

I am currently trying to figure out how to start the gargantuan task of stitching this wonderful map.  Due to it being such a large scale project, I am trying to decide whether to stitch it section by section or whether to stitch say all of the lettering, or mountains or lines in order.  Most probably I will sit down and decide what I want to stitch as I go, as I'm not normally the most organised person....

Middle Earth

If you look closely and compare 'my' map to the original, then you can see where some parts have been somewhat squashed into place. It has been quite difficult to keep lining everything up and keep everything in place.  If this had been a smaller image, I could have found a way to keep everything in place, or at least lined up with the image below.  Luckily though I don't think I know anyone that knows the map of Middle Earth off by heart, so it should be alright. So, just to start stitching......