Friday, May 20, 2011

First progress report on the Chinese Garden Mandala!

After two weeks of steady stitching every evening I have finished the first part of the new Chatelaine design, the Chinese Garden Mandala! I am using the full silk kit from ECC, along with black 32ct Belfast linen. I love this part so much! It alone would make a nice top for a fancy lacquer box, don't you think? All the beads and crystals have been added because I like to add as I go or else I worry I'll miss one!


A couple of small changes due to the black fabric....I turned the lights on in the building by using the lightest yellow Eterna silk in the window openings before backstitching over them. I used the same green silk for the steps to backstitch the motif over the door, knowing that black on black just would not work!



And here is a close up of the central building with all the crystals!



Now I'm going to take a break and stitch a couple of smalls before moving on the the next BAP in the rotation....Happy Stitching!



10 comments:

  1. That looks fantastic. I'm tempted with this one too...although I still have the Holland Mandala kitted up waiting for me. But looking at your pics it's getting really tempting.

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  2. Gorgeous start and I love seeing it on black, and with the beads I am just waiting for my Eterna silks before I can continue.

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  3. Wow! What a beautiful start! And I totally agree that it would make a lovely box top :) I love all the beads, and the crystal over the temple door is just so gorgeous! All the colours really pop against the black. And the little blue swirls in the clouds are very cute ;)

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  4. It looks really good! The beads are great. I do think it would look awesome on a box! Now you have me thinking! :)

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  5. What a gorgeous start! And I agree that it would make a lovely box top. :)

    Can't wait to see this one finished! :)

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  6. So pretty! This one is finishing up quite quickly.

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  7. Very pretty. With all that red, it looks stunning on black!!

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  8. It's absolutely stunning, Kathy!

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  9. Oh, WOW!! That is just gorgeous; it really pops on the black!

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  10. Beautiful, beautiful!!!!!! :D

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