Friday, March 22, 2013

A Ball of Happy, Scared, and Excited!

At the end of last week I was finally able to order myself a scroll frame and lap stand so i could branch back out into large projects.  I was really hoping to be able to get one from a craft store but I needed bigger than 21 inches.  So Amazon.com to the rescue.  I knew I did not want to have to sew my fabric to a strip on the scroll frame.  I liked the split dowel idea.  This may come back to haunt me, but I went with this version and this lap stand.  I didn't want to spend too much, but also wanted to be able to do multiple projects if needed.
The package was delivered yesterday while we were out shopping.  After dinner I was finally able to get my hands on it and start assembling.  I will let the pictures do the talking.



The beginning: Fabric in Dowels
Keep the directions close!
Dowels on Spreader bars
Starting to roll the fabric
All rolled; working on tension
Calling in the big guns to help assemble the lap stand.
Standing back and letting him work
Taking shape
Figuring out the purpose of the set screw


Ta Da!

All of this just so I could stitch Blackstone Fantasy Garden by Tracy Horner.  I fell in love with this chart when she first revealed it.  I finally received it as a gift last Christmas.  I am making the choice to jump into stitching on linen and stitching over 2 and I am so scared to start.  Now that I can I am afraid to begin.  I need to research some tutorials on how to do this.  But this piece, this piece is for me and a wall in my home.  I am going to pay good money to have it framed so that I can display it.

Now that I have the fabric, the floss, the frame, and the stand all that is left is the courage to jump in to either sink or swim.

Please feel free to leave comments.  Any and all are appreciated.



8 comments:

  1. yeay, you can really get started now, no more excuses :)
    I was I had the space at home to get one myself for my HAED projects...

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  2. You can do it! And if you need better tension, Nordic Needle sells pieces that fit around the sides of scroll bars and snap to keep the sides tight, too. Good luck!

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  3. YOu might find you can't get the tension right with these dowels. the above idea sounds great (with the pieces that snap to keep the sides straigh). Congratulations and enjoy your new project!

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  4. Oh, and don't be scared to stitch on linen. Easy peasy! Practice on a small project, like maybe just make a square and circle...you can see when you are off cause the crosses will be too big or too narrow. You can do it!

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  5. Were the dowels sold separately? I have that stand, but I use it with my Q-snaps. I was thinking the dowels would be good for some larger projects I have.

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  6. This was to get me started on the Ink Circles but HAED's are in the future so hoping this works out for the long term. Thanks for the Nordic Needle reference. Took a look and will be buying them soon...just in case. The dowels are part of the scroll frame. I provided a link to the amazon site for it. I just figured out how to put the Q-snaps in the stand. I am so excited by all the possibilities! Thank you all for the encouragement and information.

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  7. I have split scrolls, too. Have fun with it. I think a stand makes all the world of difference. Especially if you want to stitch 2 handed.

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  8. I love the split scrolls. It was the only option I was even entertaining when I was searching. I didn't want a lot of extra work just to get the fabric onto the frame. I have my FIL working on extending the height of my lap stand so it works for me. Maybe one day I will have the courage to jump into 2 handed stitching.

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