Lets Talk Gardens of London

So here is the story:

In the days before the internet (or more accurately before I was on the internet) finding needlework projects was a bit more challenging if there was no needlework store nearby.  Most of my projects came from the Michael's type stores and were usually kits like Dimensions or Janlyn.  I used to get lots of projects from thrift stores (usually invarious states of completion) or from relatives.  And I certainly never knew there was anything but DMC/Sullivans kind of floss.  Now I did use some different kinds of fibers when my Granny showed me actual needlepoint, but it was mostly yarn kind of stuff.

Then came the boon......the internet.  Prior to that I had never heard of just about any of the designers that are out there.  I had never heard or seen a Chatelaine (heck I could not even pronounce it) until I was watching the UTube (I think before flosstube was even there) and ran across a post by "Mrs. Milky Bar Kid" where she talked about different threads and different stitches and something called "A Chatelaine".  My mind was absolutely taken over by the designs.   It took me about a year to figure out how to order one; how to download it and actually be able to print the chart so I could use it.  Then I had to figure out where to get the linen and all the fancy schmancy threads that it required.  Of course I was unaware of Eurpean Cross Stitch and was not saavy enough to research it.  So it took me a long time to get the thing "kitted".  I will never do that again, that is for sure.  I only found ECC when I started looking for the beads  and I finally broke down and asked Mrs. Milky Bar where I could find them other than Fire Mountain Gems where I was going to have to order thousands more than I would use in my lifetime......so I did get the beads from them and some of the threads I had not been able to find.  What an find that turned out to be.


Garden of London by Chatelaine Designs

This was the first Chatelaine Design I attempted.  It is ginormous and cost a small fortune to kit up.  It is one of those designs that came in sections.  I actually started it at the beginning of 2015 with hopes of finishing it that year....oh what great plans I had.

I also had this on this giant Q-snap that made it a little hard to handle.  At the time I only had some wooden embroidery hoops and a couple of smallish scroll frames but nothing that came close to handling this size.  Perhaps  now that I have scroll rods that might fit it the handling would not be such an issue.

It has every specialty stitch known to man and I really enjoyed learning them.  It has threads I had never heard of and has textures and colors and is simply stunning.

What began to throw me was the buildings.  Then the back stitching.  I am SO BAD at back stitching so the buildings look terrible.  So it ends up being abandoned.

I am thinking about removing everything outside the "garden" portion....that means all the buildings....I am just not doing well on this project but I do like it.

So here I am in 2020.......sheesh





I did the Old WorldVinyards Chatelaine for my sister and she only wanted the center portion for the space she had planned.  This could be the same kind of thing.