Moving on ...

Here is my finished Angel. I decided to go with the shortened trailing shawl and the gold beads for the labels. The pic is a bit distorted - photography is not one of the things I do best, unfortunately. I draped the fabric over the back of my lounge for the photo-shoot, and because the fabric was longer than the lounge-back, the bottom of the fabric spread down over the seat. So it looks as though the bottom of the Angel is uneven, bit in reality, it isn't. Since this photo, my Angel has had a bath and press, and I've dropped her into my Framer. She's getting an ornately carved gold coloured wooden frame, and dark blue and gold mounting boards. The frame and mounts are the same on the ones on my Angel of Love, but the mounts will be cut differently - probably as a rectangle with rounded corners. I have to go back tomorrow for a consult and final decision-making. The Angel of Hope should be back home in mid-November, well in time for Christmas decorating.

I've taken my Angel workbasket back to the craft room, and replaced it with a basket of beads. Tonight I made 6 little beaded angels, and I'll make a few more in the next few days. By the end of the week I'll be stitching tiny bead-decorated Christmas trees to frame, and maybe a few other little Christmas designs to frame. My floor-frame is sitting empty right now, but it will soon have Jolly Old Fellow back on it. I am keen to start stitching on JOF again. Just as soon as I get some of these little Christmas things finished. I'd like to get at least one more page done before the end of the year.

HD at my house tonight!

My Angel is finished at last. She is so gorgeous! I am really pleased with the beads in the floral trim and gold border. I like the way it adds a little sparkle to the piece. I shortened the trailing shawl, and I'm not sure if I've done the right thing there. I'll leave it overnight and reassess tomorrow. My Angel is 65 cm (26") tall, so she's a stately lady. Finshing the shawl as charted will add another 5 cm (2") or so. I didn't really like the long trailing shawl as charted, bt it did give the Angel the impression of being heart-shaped, and I do like that.

I haven't yet stitched my iitials and the year - another job for tomorrow. I think I will also stitch "Angel of Hope". I'm toying with the idea of using the gold beads for the labelling. If not the beads, I'll use a mid-dark blue.

I'll be off to the framer on Monday with my Angel.

On the home stretch now ...

I have to stitch just the bottom section of the flounce, the tail of the shawl, and a few beads and gold straight stitches in the top section, and Angel of Hope will be finished - finally! I'm thinking of stitching her title on the left side at the bottom (possibly in dark blue), and my initials and the year on the right side. I'm undecided about the framing. She will hang in the same room as Angel of Love, so I'll try and find a similar frame - ornately carved gold-coloured wood - and I'll pick similar blue and gold mounts, but I really can't decide what shape to have the mount cut. Sometimes oval seems like the natural choice, other times I favour rectangular, or a rounded corner rectangle. I've got at least till the end of the week before I have to choose, so I'll wait till then to decide.

Slow progress this week

I've not been able to stitch on my Angel for the past 3 days because my knee's been playing up, and I can't sit at the floor-frame to stitch. Not happy! So, I'm not as far ahead as I'd hoped to be. I thought I would have the wing finished by now, but that hasn't happened. I'm hopeful that I'll finish it by the end of the month.

Beginnings of an angel

I've made a start on one wing - it's the angel's right wing, but the one on the left as you look at the pic - I always get confused about that. The pic doesn't really do it justice. The fabric colour is a little brighter than it appears. I'm getting used to stitching over 2 on the 25 count, but I really do prefer stitching on finer fabrics. Some of my stitches look a bit uneven to me, and I've done so much unpicking and restitching that I feel like a novice stitcher again. I hope I get better at this. I did briefly consider stitching Angel of Hope over 1 on the 25 count, and I probably would have been more comfortable doing that. But the wall she will hang on is a very tall one (cathedral ceiling in that part of the house), and I really did want the framed piece to be as large as possible. I've worked out that when framed she will be about 33 inches tall, and that will go really well in the space I have in mind.

My newest love

L&L's Angel of Hope. I know she's been around since 1991, but I just found her this year, and immediately fell in love. Joanne from 123 just sent her to me last week, and since she arrived at my house I have really been obsessing about stitching her. Soon. I have already been through my stash and found some of the floss required, and I'm debating with myself about the fabric. I was planning to stitch her when I finish JOF (at the earliest that would be a 2011 start), but she would look so very nice as a companion piece to my L&L Angel of Love this Christmas. I already have incorporated her into my 2009 Christmas decorating plan. Isn't that pathetic! Well, I am what I am - an obsessive Christmasophile.

The question is: Should I stitch her now (and give into my obsession) or be sensible and stick to my original plan to stitch her when I finish JOF. I've always been a one-at-a-time stitcher for my major projects, and I do tend to want to finish projects as quickly as I can (for me the joy is in the finishing, rather than the actual stitching - I learned that this year). The jury's still out. In the meantime, I might just order the extra floss and fabric I need - just in case ...