I know I said I wouldn't be finishing Chelsea this year, but I decided to power through it and get it done even though my eyes were crossing after all the close-up work. So glad my wifey was there to attach the corner beads for me, I was losing my mind at that point!
These are small thumbnails but you can click for BIG images. :)
Whew! I'm glad that's over. This was a beautiful design but took a LOT longer than I expected... it's about 5 x 5 inches but probably took over 30 hours to complete. I'm glad I have the finished product but if I knew how fiddly it was going to be, I probably wouldn't have bothered. I'm still not thrilled with the long stitches on the shells, but I'm not messing with it any more!
Apparently this design was made to fit perfectly on the top of a very expensive box from Sudberry House. After all the time spent stitching, I think it deserves the royal treatment!
I know I sound like I'm complaining a lot, but that's just my sore eyes talking! It's amazing in person, full of sparkle from the braids and beads, plus the herringbone stitch gleams even though it's just cotton! I wish the pictures could capture the shine... and imagine how great this would have looked in silk! But no, I'm not making another! :p
If anyone is interested, this pattern is Chelsea (by Janelle Giese) from the May/June 2010 issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine.
Time to rest my eyeballs so I can start the Crazy January challenge tomorrow! :))))