13 Years and counting....

I'm hoping that this is the year that I finish my largest Hardanger piece to date.  What started out in 2000 stitching up, I finished stitching it in 2012.  It wasn't a matter of the size that stopped me, it was the fact that I lost the piece for 10 years.  I picked it up again in 2010 and finished the stitching relatively quickly.  What took longer was finding pieces to fit into the white spaces surronding the large doily.  I found them and finished them.  Then it was a short hop into the washer and dryer, then the scary part came around, cutting it all up.  I've blogged about the other pieces that were on the large piece of cloth in earlier posts.  This one is dedicated to the large piece in the center.

I started cutting out the weaving area late December 2012.  I got a little section of it done then set it aside until the new year.  Most of my weaving has been this year, and here is a picture of it:

 

As you can see I've not cut out the entire area that will eventually be woven.  I'm doing it by little bits of cutting at a time.  The reason behind this is something I learned in EGA and I'm sure it's mentioned elsewhere.  If I were to cut out the entire weaving area, I would disturb the strength integrity of the cloth.  By cutting out little sections and weaving until I get to my cuts I leave intact the integrity.

I've added a Dove's Eye filling to this piece.  The pattern calls for no filling stitches in the weaving area.  I wanted to better my Dove's Eye stitch again.  So here is a picture of it up close and personal:

 

I had to come up with this pattern.  I prefer to do my Dove's Eyes in the middle if at all possible.  I personally don't like to stitch inbetween the Kloster blocks.

 

Here is a closer view of the area I'm stitching to next.  You can see that I have cut by the Kloster blocks towards the center of the design, however I've left the cloth fibers in until I get closer.  I will then remove them and cut the opposing side so that I will get my weaving grid: 



 

I hope to keep my blog updated as I finish this large beautiful doily.  I will be happy when it is done but also sad at the same time because it's taken me so long to accomplish.  I hope I won't be putting a piece aside and losing track of it again in the future, but that is probably a hope that is in vain.

 

Keep on Stitchin'...