Close Enough

Lessons learned. Always check your work. Turns out I had missed some outlining and a few squares of orange braid.  Still waiting on that to arrive.

As the final touch, I added the gold rays around the angel's head. This gold braid can drive someone to drink. I found I had to tack it down to prevent the strands from bending. Overall, I am happy with how it turned out.

This piece is stunning. I cannot believe I took it on, but I really can't believe I finally finished it. I will never top this. I will cherish this for the rest of my life.

Pick up something you have put down, no matter how long ago. Never give up.

99% Complete

At 10pm on May 18th, a miracle occurred. I sewed my last glass seed bead and touched my last piece of blending filament!

Final Push

The end is in site. I'm working my way through the pattern, top down, left to right.

I had to purchase stronger reading glasses to help me see the needles and the linen.

As luck would have it, I ran out of orange braid! I can't find it locally, so I've had to order it online. I almost had enough.  :-(

Something came over me and I decided I was going to finish this project. I had done too much to just leave this in a carrying case.

Here's where I started at the beginning of May 2014:

What has held me back from finishing is the blending filament, orange braid, gold braid and glass beads. I was having trouble getting the beads to fit through my needle. I had a beading needle, but did not have a thread that would fit through the eye. After posting my problem on everythingcrossstitch.com, I got my answer. I switched to a Sulky thread and my problem was solved.

I forced myself to work on the blending filament and orange braid. Then I filled in with floss. When nothing was left, I worked on the beads.

Did I mention how I feel about blending filament???