Miss Clawful's Cross-Stitch Projects

[BooChocoBoom]

Gyaaah! These are awesome! I would love to make that RBI baseball one for a dear friend of mine - any chance of a pattern?

[Miss Clawful]

Boy do I have some updating to do! Not the few shown below, that's just a minor update, but lots of huge projects I've finished that I've been working on since July, but keeping those aside until the new year starts. But for now, some small ones overdue of posting.

Magic of Scheherazade - Isfa

Colors used (DMC):
------------------
Very Light Mahogany (#402), Medium Electric Blue (#996), White

Material used:
Black Aida (14ct) cut to 6"x6"

Date Progress Log:
------------------
5/24/2012

10:55pm-11:35pm - got mahogany color done

5/24/2012-5/25/2012

11:40pm-12:25am - got white done

5/25/2012

1:00am-2:10am - got all blue done

total time for completion = 155 minutes (2 hours 35 minutes)



===

Low G Man - Spear Down-Thrust

Colors used (DMC):
------------------
Medium Salmon (#3712), Dark Blue (#825), Black

Material used:
--------------
Red Aida (14ct) cut to 6"x6"

Date and Time Progress Log:
---------------------------

5/25/2012-5/26/2012

got entire black outline done

5/26/2012

got upper half of Low G Man done (took a while to find the right color blue)

got lower half of Low G Man done (he's finished, now to color in the robot)

5/26/2012-5/27/2012

finished Low G Man cross-stitch


===

Ken - Street Fighter 2010

Colors used (DMC):
------------------
White, Very Light Apricot (#967), Medium Mahogany (#301), Light Turquoise (#598), Black

Material used:
--------------
Red Aida (14ct) cut to 6"x6"

Date and Time Progress Log:
---------------------------

5/27/2012

got black outline done

5/28/2012

finished Ken (still have to do the drone)

finished robot drone (this cross-stitch piece is done!)



Well, that's it for now. Huge update coming soon.

[Miss Clawful]

Gyaaah! These are awesome! I would love to make that RBI baseball one for a dear friend of mine - any chance of a pattern?

I know many moons late from the time you asked, but it'd be rude for me to ignore your request even if it was years late in replying. When I work with these I typically work straight from MS Paint with gridlines on, find the center (or approximate) and work outward from there, so don't have any major details involving patterns with symbols, color chart or such, what I see on screen is what I do. But did enlarge this one so it can be viewed better without putting it into Paint or similar.



Sorry I was so late in replying, I'd been quite busy.

[Miss Clawful]

Well, one more day left in the year, looking forward to another year of cross-stitching. And now that I have a plan of what I like to and want to do, 2013 should be a much more productive year. When I first started cross-stitching years ago I didn't know what I wanted to do, dabbled with a random character here and there, but didn't feel completely connected, nor even if this was something I would continue to enjoy.

August 2011 I tried something new, thought, I need a big project, but not something so grand that it'd take so long to do that I'd tire of it while in the middle of working on it and eventually put it aside before even finishing, but stick with character sprites, but do complete sets, all heroes or bosses from a particular game, and then once I felt I done enough of them, find another game to stitch the same for. I had some big ideas for this, probably a little too big, thousands upon thousands of game characters that I'd want to stitch, eh, yeah, right.

I started this with a plan to stitch all of the supporting cast in The Magic of Scheherazade for the NES, first with Coronya. Another thing different from all my previous beginners cross-stitchings in the past is that these (and most of my work thereafter) would be on black aida just as their sprites appear against a black background, all colors would be stitched in except for the black, this would give the character more of a sense of depth. Not only that but I seriously needed to make my front and back sides looking better so devised a method that worked for me and stuck with it.

When I cross-stitch I work starting from an approximate center, gently folding the material to find the middle (sometimes follow up with a ruler to make absolute sure that I am in the right spot, and sometimes I forget this step), and begin my first stitch based on what I chose as my center on the pattern. I typically just do one color at a time (I like to cut them down to as few as possible as soon as possible, less I have to worry about), once finished then move on to the next, though sometimes if parts of the picture are distinctly separated I'll completely finish up one area first then move to the next.

Stitching would take a little longer as front would have to be as pretty as possible, railroading the floss on each X so that they appear flat and neat. The needle would come up through a hole, back but between the two strands of floss into the next hole, laying them relatively flat, parallel to each other. Though still I sometimes just run the floss without taking this care, kinda depends on my mood and whether I think it needs that extra attention.

When cross-stitching I work vertically for the most part, one X at a time, usually working with a 3 foot length of floss, the longer it is the less I have to anchor, and less I have to keep going back and threading yet another pair of floss strands. I anchor the floss in the back either along what would be edges of a character's outline closely following that, or if there aren't any immediate outlines or details resembling what could be then I'll anchor the floss vertical best I can to keep it mostly hidden, or at least so everything runs the same way, as I hate horizontal lines just sporatically cutting across the vertical ones of my character's backside.

Also, my anchoring tends to be long, as long as I feel I want or need to get a certain look. Another thing I find important is balance, say, if a character sprite looks the same on its right and left side (each side basically being flipped), then any route I take must make both sides come out looking the same even so much as how and where I anchor, not only making a better looking front but turning the back into a piece of art as well.

I know that if I stitched primarily horizontally and only doing half the X first then going back to finish it that the back side would be even cleaner still, but it don't feel natural to me, I'm more comfortable going along a mostly vertical path, so stick with this method.

And so when I finished my Scheherazade pieces, a dozen characters total, I was so pleased with how they turned out that this is how I wanted all my cross-stitched art to look from then on. Before end of year I did some award prizes for the high score contest winners at NintendoAge, cross-stitching a nice piece for each of them on light blue aida, each themed around the NES Megaman characters.

2012 came, wanted to make this a great year for stitching. Started out promising, cross-stitched all of the bosses from the first Castlevania game on the NES, this being a commissioned project for a member over at NintendoAge, and I tell you I had a hard time parting with them once they were finished. I stitched a bunch of Shatterhand pieces, had intended to do every boss in the game and then some, but sometime in the middle of it I hit a slump, put the needle 'n floss away for a while.

When I tried to get back into cross-stitching again several months later I did a few character sprites, but something just wasn't sitting right with me. Another issue I face though is consistency of colors. Being the limited color palette of the NES, not very many floss colors would need to be used, 50 or so, and I wanted every sprite or scene that I cross-stitch from this point that uses the same colors as another, that they would share the same exact color floss as well. So any color that I pick would have to be perfect, that way just like how they appear on screen, each would use the same color floss as well, but also once I found all of the right colors, no more hunting, as for me the hardest and most aggrevating part about cross-stitching is choosing colors.

Some colors I'm totally pleased with, using them every time a new project calls for that color again, other times I've found that still I have to go back and hunt for a better color than what I had picked out from a previous project, that while it worked nicely for that one, doesn't for the current one. So finding the absolute best complete NES to floss palette is still a work in progress.

The thing that bothered me most is that I didn't really get that sense of awe from the finished pieces that I had expected, maybe I needed something more grand to give me a real sense of accomplishment. Big plans entered my head.

And so my journey begins anew, I'm going big, whole sheet of aida, one big picture, something that would keep me busy for weeks and once finished would be something to look at in admiration and be proud of the grueling effort put into created this threaded artwork. My first choice, one I had been contemplating doing for a long time, the intro punch from one of my favorite NES games, Shatterhand.

Shatterhand - Intro Punch



PATTERN:
196w x 154h pixels = 14"w x 11"h

Spoiler

note: Along with other similar classic action platformers, Castlevania, Ninja Gaiden, Batman, Shatterhand is one of my all time favorites on the NES, so there was no question in my mind at all why I shouldn't do this one. The gun and jaw shattering punch in the intro sequence sums up everything about this game (well, the punching stuff part anyway), beefed up, testosterone loaded tough guy beating the crap out of other guys with his bare hands...eh, just fellows having fun. The intro is short, but longer than most on the NES, exciting and to the point, you're about to play a really awesome game! This is the kind of introduction I wish some of my other favorites had--Power Blade, Kick Master, Kabuki Quantum Fighter, just to name a few that are great games but don't have the "Wow, that is soooo coooool!", pump-you-up introduction sequence to get you into the game before the game even starts.

Another note: With this size pattern I had to sacrifice the bottom part of the enemy's leg below the knee, at least at first so I thought, turned out that the whole image fit completely afterall, even though right to the edge of the material.

MATERIAL USED:
Black Aida (14ct) full sheet 17½w x 11½h

Spoiler

note: I should've used a larger sheet of material for this one, cut it awfully close to the top and bottom edges, but its all I had and I just had to do this particular project now, and boy did it turn out awesome!

COLORS USED (DMC):
Dark Rosewood (#3857)
Very Light Mahogany (#402)
Very Dark Beaver Gray (#645)
White
Bright Green (#700)
Light Moss Green (#3819)
Black Avocado Green (#934)
Very Light Apricot (#967)

total colors: 8

DATE & TIME PROGRESS LOG:

Started stitching: May 29th 2012
Finished stitching: July 8th 2012

Spoiler

5/29/2012
5:50pm-6:30pm
7:35pm-8:10pm
9:25pm-9:50pm - got dark rosewood on enemy's gun and hand done
=100minutes

5/29/2012-5/30/2012
11:00pm-11:30pm
12:25am-12:55am
1:00am-1:25am
1:30am-1:55am - got dark rosewood on far arm and shoulder done
=110minutes

5/30/2012-5/31/2012
2:50am-3:30am
1:10am-2:10am
3:00am-3:40am
5:05am-5:40am - got dark rosewood on head and face done, as well as the bit on Shatterhand's fist
=175minutes

6/1/2012
12:15am-1:25am - got dark rosewood on most of enemy's chest done
=70 minutes

6/3/2012-6/4/2012
11:30pm-12:00am
12:10am-2:15am - got vd beaver grey on enemy's gun done, vl mahogany on hand and shoulder of far arm done, as well as white on gun and fingernails
=155minutes

6/4/2012-6/5/2012
3:55am-5:55am - got all vl mahogany done on enemy's head and face
6:25pm-7:25pm - got white on enemy's head and face done
7:45pm-8:35pm
12:40am-2:20am - got vl mahogany done on enemy's chest, and on Shatterhand's fist and punch impact
3:50am-5:30am - got white of Shatterhand's fist and punch impact wave done
=430minutes

6/5/2012
2:45pm-3:55pm - got white on enemy's chest done, and bright green on Shatterhand's wristband done
9:55pm-10:25pm
11:20pm-11:40pm - got topaz on wristband done (not sure about this color, seems a little over strong, overpowering against the green, but its the closest match I could find)
=120minutes

6/6/2012
1:30am-3:00am - got bright green on upper furthest part of vest done
3:20am-4:15am - got light moss green done on upper part of vest
3:30pm-3:40pm and 6:50pm-7:00pm - removed topaz color on Shatterhand's wristband
=165minutes

6/7/2012
12:25am-1:10am - got light moss green done on wristband
1:15am-2:30am - got bright green on Shatterhand's hair and face done
=120minutes

6/8/2012
4:20am-5:05am
3:35pm-3:50pm
9:45pm-10:30pm - got bright green on Shatterhand's vest collar done
=105minutes

6/9/2012
3:00am-4:20am - got bright green done on Shatterhand's glove
2:35pm-2:50pm
6:15pm-6:40pm
9:45pm-10:20pm - got light moss green done on Shatterhand's vest and glove
=155minutes

6/10/2012
11:55pm-1:00pm - got light moss green done on all of Shatterhand's upper body, head and arms
7:30pm-8:10pm
10:25pm-11:25pm - got bright green on Shatterhand's leg done
=165minutes

6/11/2012
5:00am-5:30am - got light moss green on Shatterhand's leg done
7:10am-7:25am - got very dark hunter green one lower vest done (still not certain of this color, its the closest match, but blends too much with the bright green)
7:40am-7:50am - got black avocado green done on Shatterhand's knee (this is the right color to replace the very dark hunter green)
7:55am-8:20am
=80minutes

6/12/2012
1:30am-3:25am - got black avocado green done on Shatterhand's head, curled arm, and back
=115minutes

6/13/2012
9:10pm-10:00pm - started very light mahogany on Shatterhand's face and curled arm
=50minutes

6/14/2012-6/15/2012
1:30am-2:10am - got very light apricot done on Shatterhand's face (his whole head is done now)
3:00am-4:15am
5:35am-6:30am - finished up very light mahogany on Shatterhand's curled arm
4:40pm-5:50pm
9:05pm-10:20pm
12:15am-1:40am - got very light apricot done on Shatterhand's curled arm (woah, close call, used up the very last bit to an inch left to finish up this arm, but now I'm all out, gotta get some more to do the punching arm)
=400minutes

6/15/2012
3:30pm-3:45pm - removed very dark hunter green from Shatterhand's vest and punching arm
9:40pm-10:00pm - put in black avocado green in place on front of vest
=35minutes

6/16/2012
3:35pm-3:50pm
6:35pm-6:55pm - got black avocado green done on punching arm
9:35pm-10:50pm - close to finishing up very light mahogany on punching arm
=110minutes

6/17/2012
1:25am-1:50am - got all very light mahogany done on punching arm, all I've left now is very light apricot but need to get more in order to finish, time to get back to working on the enemy until then
=25minutes

6/18/2012
1:55am-3:15am - begin work on enemy's shoulder, dark rosewood
10:30pm-11:50pm - got dark rosewood on enemy's shoulder done
=160minutes

6/19/2012
4:45pm-5:55pm - dark rosewood on upper part of arm done
7:05pm-8:10pm
=135minutes

6/20/2012
3:30am-4:10am - dark rosewood on middle of arm done halfway done
=40minutes

6/21/2012
1:00am-3:20am - got dark rosewood on enemy's entire arm done
=140minutes

6/23/2012
12:00am-1:00am - got very light mahogany on enemy's hand and wrist done
6:50pm-7:15pm
9:25pm-10:45pm - got very light mahogany done on lower and upper arm
=165minutes

6/24/2012
2:25am-3:05am
3:15am-4:00am - got white done on arm
=85minutes

6/30/2012
2:20am-3:00am
6:05pm-6:20pm
9:50pm-10:30pm - got very light mahogany done on enemy's shoulder
=95minutes

7/1/2012
2:40am-3:45am
4:05am-4:20am - got dark rosewood done on broken gun
1:35pm-2:50pm
5:20pm-5:30pm
7:30pm-8:00pm - got white on enemy's shoulder done
=195minutes

7/2/2012
2:45am-3:15am
3:45am-4:15am - got grey on shattered gun done
=60minutes

7/4/2012
6:45pm-7:00pm
9:35pm-10:00pm
=40minutes

7/5/2012
3:55am-4:30am - got dark rosewood on enemy's leg done
5:40pm-6:35pm
6:55pm-7:05pm - got very light mahogany done on enemy's leg
7:30pm-8:10pm - got rest of leg from mid-knee down done (very close fit to the very bottom of the fabric, but the entire works is there, no pixels missing, now all I've left is to get the color filled in on Shatterhand's punching arm)
=140minutes

7/7/2012
2:40pm-2:50pm
6:40pm-7:00pm
9:20pm-10:00pm
=70minutes

7/8/2012
12:45am-1:45am - DONE!!! WOOH-HOOOOOOOOOH!!! Finally finished with this huge Shatterhand project, and its totally awesome!
=60minutes

And how frickin' weird is this...I started this project on May 29th, my father's birthday, finish it on July 8th, my sister's birthday...crazy.

TOTAL STITCHING TIME FOR THIS PROJECT:
4070 minutes = 67 hours 50 minutes (if I added everything up correctly, and this doesn't count time for preparations nor severe mistakes, so total time for project would be at least around 70 hours plus or minus some)
TOTAL STITCHES:
7830

Continues in next post as when I tried to combine them all my message well exceeded the maximum characters allowed, so going to give each project its own post.

[Miss Clawful]

Kick Master - Wolf Queen (Boss of Sector 2)



PATTERN:
196w x 154h pixels = 14"w x 11"h

Spoiler

note: This is one cool looking boss, even though she and her wolves aren't really much more than static background since she and they don't actually move--attacks come by smaller packs of wolves that jump around the screen and occasion spread shots by the wolf rider lady--still, very nice details and even though it don't really represent the game as well as the Shatterhand one did, just had to do this one next because I imagined how great it would look framed on the wall. I ran into color issues a lot with this one, first with the skin tone on the woman, then later stitched, removed, restitched, repeated yet again one of the wolf's heads trying several colors before going back to the one I started with, dark garnet!

MATERIAL USED:
Black Aida (14ct) full sheet 17½w x 11½h

COLORS USED (DMC):
Red Copper (#919)
Light Dusty Rose (#3354)
Royal Blue (#797)
Dark Garnet (#814)
Medium Plum (#917)
Very Light Mahogany (#402)

total colors: 6

DATE & TIME PROGRESS LOG:

Started stitching: July 8th 2012
Finished stitching: July 21st 2012

Spoiler

7/8/2012-7/9/2012
10:00pm-11:35pm
11:45pm-12:30am - got all Medium Salmon done on Wolf Queen
=140minutes

7/9/2012
5:30pm-5:50pm - removed all stitches, the lady looked like a damn lobster, color was too orangish, spent the next half hour or more switching up all three colors for the Wolf Queen, I think I found the perfect choices now
=20minutes

10:00pm-12:00am - got all Light Dusty Rose done on Wolf Queen
=120minutes

7/10/2012
12:05am-12:30am
2:50am-4:35am
4:05pm-4:55pm - got all Red Copper done on Wolf Queen
=180minutes

5:40pm-6:00pm
6:25pm-6:50pm

7/11/2012
1:30am-2:45am
3:35pm-3:50pm
7:05pm-7:15pm
9:30pm-9:45pm
11:10pm-11:55pm
=205minutes

7/12/2012
3:45am-5:15am - got all Royal Blue done on Wolf Queen
=90minutes

TOTAL TIME ON WOLF QUEEN - 755 minutes = 12 hours 35 minutes (would have been 160 minutes = 2h 40m less if I hadn't spent so much time on bad color choice at the beginning and then having to remove it all after that)

7/13/2012
2:55am-4:20am
3:05pm-3:20pm
7:10pm-7:25pm
9:20pm-10:05pm
=160minutes

7/14/2012
12:00am-2:10am - got two center wolf heads done (took me some time longer than it should have because I wasn't certain on Dark Garnet and Medium Plum, tried another color in place of the Dark Garnet but it didn't work, stuck with my original choices afterall and the colors are fine)
2:40pm-2:55pm
6:30pm-6:55pm
9:25pm-9:50pm
=65minutes

7/15/2012
4:40am-5:10am - got right center wolf done
1:30pm-1:45pm
6:45pm-7:00pm
9:45pm-10:00pm
10:05pm-10:40pm
=110minutes

7/16/2012
1:05am-1:25am - got left center wolf done
3:55am-5:55am - got Dark Garnet on mid-left wolf done
=140minutes

7/17/2012
3:00am-5:25am - got Dark Garnet done on mid-right wolf
=145minutes

7/18/2012
2:10am-4:45am - got both mid left and mid right wolves done
3:25pm-3:35pm
3:40pm-3:50pm
=175minutes

7/19/2012
4:55am-5:40am
6:00am-7:15am - got Dark Garnet on rightmost wolf done
2:10pm-3:00pm - got rightmost wolf done (one more wolf to go!)
=170minutes

7/20/2012
3:35pm-3:50pm
=15minutes

7/21/2012
12:00am-12:40am
12:50am-2:15am
2:50am-3:30am - done!!! Yay!
=165minutes

TOTAL TIME ON WOLVES - 1145 minutes = 19 hours 5 minutes

TOTAL STITCHING TIME FOR THIS PROJECT:
1900 minutes = 31 hours 40 minutes
TOTAL STITCHES:
3284

[Miss Clawful]

Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode - The Statue of Liberty





PATTERN:
196h x 154w pixels = 14"h x 11"w

Spoiler

note: I wanted to do something for my mom's birthday, was telling her about this and showed her what the pattern looked like, she wanted it! And she got it, stitched, framed, hung up on wall for her to see every day. I would have liked to have added something more to it, had thought about an American flag background, as well as fireworks, as well as some words, even though for my own amusement thought about G.I. Joes all over it, but couldn't find anything to work so left it as was, standing alone in the darkness, but a proud symbol nonetheless.

MATERIAL USED:
Black Aida (14ct) full sheet 17½h x 11½w

COLORS USED (DMC):
Dark Pistachio Green (#367)
Very Light Pistachio Green (#369)
Tawny (#945)

total colors: 3

Spoiler

note: This was by far the easiest cross-stitch piece to pick out colors for, the instant I saw the pistachio greens I knew those were the right colors to do the Pistachio of Liberty!

DATE & TIME PROGRESS LOG:
Started stitching: July 21st 2012
Finished stitching: September 4th 2012

Spoiler

7/21/2012
1:20pm-1:45pm
2:35pm-2:50pm
7:00pm-7:20pm
9:50pm-10:15pm

7/22/2012
1:25am-4:00am

7/23/2012
2:30am-4:35am - got Liberty's face and hair done

=365minutes (6 hours 5 minutes)

7/24/2012
2:50am-5:05am
5:45am-6:30am
8:00am-8:40am - finished her crown

=220minutes (3 hours 40 minutes)

7/25/2012
8:55am-10:00am
3:25pm-3:40pm
7:05pm-7:15pm

7/28/2012
1:15am-4:15am
3:35pm-3:50pm
9:25pm-9:50pm
10:00pm-10:20pm

7/29/2012
7:30pm-9:10pm
9:55pm-10:20pm

7/31/2012
9:30pm-10:15pm

8/1/2012
1:50am-2:40am

8/2/2012
12:50am-2:25am - got Very Light Pistachio Green done on Liberty's gown

=645minutes (10 hours 45 minutes)

8/5/2012
7:40pm-8:30pm
10:00pm-10:20pm

8/6/2012
2:35am-5:20am

8/8/2012
12:35am-1:55am
2:55pm-3:25pm
7:00pm-7:15pm

8/10/2012
6:40pm-6:55pm
9:30pm-10:15pm

8/11/2012
9:45pm-10:15pm

8/15/2012
3:30pm-3:45pm
6:25pm-6:35pm

8/16/2012
2:10am-4:05am
10:05pm-11:10pm
11:35pm-12:00am - got right side of Liberty's gown done

=520minutes (8 hours 40 minutes)

8/17/2012
3:15am-4:20am
3:40pm-3:55pm
9:25pm-9:50pm

8/18/2012
1:05am-2:50am
3:35am-4:40am
2:35pm-2:55pm - got tablet and hand done

6:45pm-6:55pm
9:50pm-10:20pm

8/19/2012
4:45pm-5:00pm
7:25pm-8:30pm
9:10pm-9:50pm

8/20/2012
12:05pm-1:00pm

8/22/2012
3:30pm-3:50pm
6:35pm-6:55pm

8/23/2012
2:50am-3:10
3:10am-3:30am (found I made a mistake on Liberty's sleeve, oops, fixed it)
3:30am-4:30am

8/24/2012
7:10pm-7:25pm

8/25/2012
5:30am-6:10am - got Liberty's gown completely done! whew, 'bout time.

=675minutes (11 hours 15 minutes)

8/28/2012
3:35pm-3:55pm
7:10pm-7:35pm
9:20pm-9:45pm
9:55pm-10:25pm

8/29/2012
1:15am-2:40am - got Light Pistachio Green done on arm, hand, and torch
3:35pm-3:55pm
7:05pm-7:25pm

8/30/2012
5:05am-6:40am

8/31/2012
6:10pm-6:30pm
9:45pm-10:05pm

9/02/2012
1:40am-2:35am
1:35pm-2:55pm
5:05pm-5:30pm - got Liberty's arm and torch done
7:40pm-8:20pm - got the flame done; cross-stitch of the Statue of Liberty done!!

=560minutes (9 hours 20 minutes)

TOTAL STITCHING TIME FOR THIS PROJECT:
2985 minutes = 49 hours 45 minutes (done, just in time for mom's birthday!)
TOTAL STITCHES:
5741

[Miss Clawful]

Batman - profile (from intro of the NES game Batman)



PATTERN:
196h x 154w pixels = 14"h x 11"w

Spoiler

note: Simply put, this was a must do! And my mom thinks it's bad ass, still one of her favorites.

MATERIAL USED:
Black Aida (14ct) full sheet 17½h x 11½w

COLORS USED (DMC):
White
Very Light Mahogany (#402)
Medium Mahogany (#301)
Dark Steel Gray (#414)
Very Light Ash Gray (#535)

total colors: 5

DATE & TIME PROGRESS LOG:
Started stitching: September 4th 2012
Finished stitching: September 10th 2012

Spoiler

9/04/2012
1:00am-2:25am - got white done on Batman's face
3:10am-3:55am - got very light mahogany done on Batman's face
4:00am-4:45am - got medium mahogany done on Batman's face (face done)

=175minutes (2 hours 55 minutes)

3:30pm-3:45pm
9:15pm-10:15pm
11:10pm-11:15pm - got all white done on Batman's head

=80minutes (1 hour 20 minutes)

9/05/2012
12:45am-1:00am
2:15am-3:50am - got all dark steel gray done on Batman's head

=110minutes (1 hour 50 minutes)

9/06/2012
1:40am-2:50am - got white done on Batman's left shoulder (his left)
9:55pm-10:25pm
10:40pm-11:20pm - got dark steel gray done on left shoulder

=140minutes (2 hours 20 minutes)

9/08/2012
2:10am-4:10am - got very light ash gray done on Batman's head

=120minutes (2 hours)

9/09/2012
1:10am-2:40am
7:10pm-8:55pm - got very light ash gray done on Batman's left shoulder

9:10pm-9:50pm - got medium mahogany and white done on emblem

=235minutes (3 hours 55 minutes)

9/10/2012
1:30am-2:05am
2:15am-3:20am - got very light mahogany on bat emblem done

=100minutes (1 hour 40 minutes)

12:35pm-2:10pm - got Batman's right shoulder done (finished!)

=95minutes (1 hour 35 minutes)

TOTAL STITCHING TIME FOR THIS PROJECT:
1055 minutes = 17 hours 35 minutes
TOTAL STITCHES:
1913

[Miss Clawful]

Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse - intro with Trevor on cliff facing Dracula's castle under a crescent moon cloudy sky



PATTERN:
196w x 154h pixels = 14"w x 11"h

Spoiler

note: While it feels rather epic watching the intro in the game, even though it turned out nicely cross-stitched, its rather empty, more stitches than Batman, yet seemingly more black space. My mom tells me that it's her least favorite of my large stitched art, says there's not much to it, I can kind of agree with her, but it does look so much better framed than not. I did this one because of the atmosphere the picture painted me, this is pretty much the scene from most every other similar game, lone hero on cliffside facing a castle (then later after game is beaten same hero once again on cliffside facing crubbling castle). Maybe it needed a kick ass soundtrack to go along with it, or perhaps the movie frame reel thingies along the sides, or throw in some extra such a some bats flying around or Dracula's head ominously hovering over the castle. I still like it, just compared to my other ones, there's something lacking, detail is there but only on Trevor, and also, so far this is the only one that is not a close up of a character. I think what is missing, balance, heavily stitched on one side, light on the other.

MATERIAL USED:
Black Aida (14ct) full sheet 17½w x 11½h

COLORS USED (DMC):
White
Medium Mahogany (#301)
Dark Mocha Brown (#3781)
Light Old Gold (#676)
Ultra Very Dark Baby Blue (#803)

total colors: 5

DATE & TIME PROGRESS LOG:
Started stitching: September 10th 2012
Finished stitching: September 20th 2012

Spoiler

9/10/2012
10:40pm-11:55pm - got center storm cloud done (cloud between Trevor and castle)

=75minutes (1 hour 15 minutes)

9/11/2012
12:00am-12:55am
1:30am-2:55am - got white on castle done
3:15am-4:20am - got all UVD baby blue done on castle (castle finished)

6:55pm-7:30pm
8:10pm-9:10pm - got medium mahogany done on Trevor
9:30pm-10:00pm

=330minutes (5 hours 30 minutes)

9/12/2012
1:25am-3:15am - got dark mocha brown on Trevor done
3:20am-3:45am - got white done on Trevor (Trevor finished)

=135minutes (2 hours 15 minutes)

9/13/2012
1:15am-3:40am - got dark mocha brown done on cliff
10:10am-10:20am
10:35am-11:10am - got old gold color done on cliff
4:55pm-5:20pm - got white done on cliff (cliff finished)

=215minutes (3 hours 35 minutes)

9/14/2012
9:20pm-10:00pm

=40minutes (40 minutes)

9/15/2012
2:10am-3:20am (made a count error by one X, had to remove and start over on 43-44 stitches, so what little I did took much longer than it should have)
3:25am-3:45am
3:50am-4:00am
11:05am-11:30am
11:50am-12:20pm (ran out of UVD baby blue, still have two more cloud clusters - upper left of castle - to do)
1:05pm-2:00pm - got all of the white done on all clouds to right of castle
2:10pm-2:30pm - got white on lowest left clouds done

=230minutes (3 hours 50 minutes)

9/16/2012
9:50pm-10:45pm - got dark mocha brown on moon's outline

=55minutes (55 minutes)

9/17/2012
2:40am-3:50am - got medium mahogany done on the moon (moon finished)

=70minutes (1 hour 10 minutes)

9/19/2012-9/20/2012
7:25pm-7:40pm
11:35pm-12:15am - got UVD baby blue done on last cloud cluster

=55minutes (55 minutes)

9/20/2012
12:40am-12:50am - started on white on the last clouds, but... (big mistake, miscounted the blue I just put in, 95-96 Xs stitched, all one space up too high... @#$%)
12:55am-1:10am - spent these 15 minutes tearing out the blue I just stitched
1:15am-1:40am - got white done on last group of clouds
1:20am-2:20am - got blue done on that last group of clouds, again (done!!!)

=110minutes (1 hour 50 minutes)

TOTAL STITCHING TIME FOR THIS PROJECT:
1315 minutes = 21 hours 55 minutes
TOTAL STITCHES:
2461

[Miss Clawful]

Little Nemo: The Dream Master - The Kiss



PATTERN:
112w x 140h pixels = 8"w x 10"h

Spoiler

note: This was just too cute to not do.

MATERIAL USED:
Black Aida (14ct) partial sheet 10¾w x 11¾h

COLORS USED (DMC):
Ultra Very Light Dusty Rose (#963)
Salmon (#760)
Dark Cornflower Blue (#792)
Dark Pistachio Green (#367)
Light Nile Green (#955)
White
Dark Steel Gray (#414)

total colors: 7

DATE & TIME PROGRESS LOG:
Started stitching: September 21st 2012
Finished stitching: September 27th 2012

Spoiler

9/21/2012
3:15am-4:15am - got UVL dusty rose done on Princess Camille's face
4:55am-6:00am (test a couple colors: Light Shell Pink (#223), Medium Mauve (#3688) for the darker skin tone, neither of those work, either too brownish like they would have a deep tan, or too pink leaning towards a purple tint)
6:25am-7:00am - got salmon done on Camille's face (I don't know how I missed the salmon colors when looking for the right tone, but all good, this is perfect)
7:40am-8:05am
8:10pm-10:00pm - got dark cornflower blue done on Camille's hair
10:05pm-10:15pm - got UVL dusty rose done on ponytail tie
10:25pm-10:40pm - got UVL dusty rose on Camille's tiara and earring done
11:00pm-11:15pm - got ULV dusty rose on her shoulder done
11:25pm-11:40pm - got salmon done on earring, neck and shoulder

=350minutes (5 hours 50 minutes)

9/22/2012-9/23/2012
6:10-6:25pm
9:25pm-10:05pm - got UVL dusty rose done on Camille's arms and hands
11:35pm-12:20am
12:40am-1:25am - got salmon done on Camille's ponytail

=135minutes (2 hours 15 minutes)

9/23/2012
6:10pm-6:25pm
7:20pm-8:50pm - got all salmon color done on hair and tiara
9:10pm-9:30pm - got salmon done on her arms and hands
9:40pm-10:05pm

=150minutes (2 hours 30 minutes)

9/24/2012
2:00am-2:40am - got dark pistachio green of Princess Camille's dress done
2:40am-2:55am - got light nile green done on dress (dress completed)
3:00am-3:20am - got dark pistachio green done on tiara (Princess Camille is finished!)

=75minutes (1 hour 15 minutes)

11 hours 50 minutes total for Princess Camille (could have been about an hour less if I had picked the right color choice for her skin tone to begin with)

9/24/2012
7:10am-9:10am
9:30am-9:50am - got UVL dusty rose and salmon of Nemo's face done

=140minutes (2 hours 20 minutes)

9/25/2012
12:30am-3:40am - got dark cornflower blue of Nemo's hair done (his head is finished)

=190minutes (3 hours 10 minutes)

9/26/2012
10:00pm-10:45pm
11:15pm-11:45pm

=75minutes (1 hour 15 minutes)

9/27/2012
3:40am-5:35am - got Nemo's pajamas done (cross-stitch completed!)

=115minutes (1 hour 55 minutes)

8 hours 40 minutes total for Nemo

TOTAL STITCHING TIME FOR THIS PROJECT:
1230 minutes = 20 hours 30 minutes
TOTAL STITCHES:
2446

[Miss Clawful]

Solstice - Shadax



PATTERN:
196h x 154w pixels = 14"h x 11"w

Spoiler

note: This will be one magical piece once I finish it. But here's where I had my troubles, blue. No matter how many times I looked them over, I could not find the right shades of blue to match the NES colors of Shadax's robe, I spent quite some hours fussing over this blue and that, eventually just settled with three shades of baby blue that while not quite right did the job. In the end, this is my second favorite piece right after the Shatterhand one. Halfway through this project I played the NES game and beat it for my first time ever.

MATERIAL USED:
Black Aida (14ct) full sheet 17½h x 11½w

COLORS USED (DMC):
Light Baby Blue (#3325)
Medium Baby Blue (#334)
Very Dark Baby Blue (#312)
Light Parrot Green (#907)
Dark Parrot Green (#905)
Dark Pistachio Green (#367)
Ultra Very Light Dusty Rose (#963)
Very Light Plum (#3608)
Medium Plum (#917)
Very Light Mahogany (#402)
Red Copper (#919)
Light Violet (#554)
Medium Violet (#552)
Very Dark Violet (#550)
Very Light Ash Gray (#535)

total colors: 15

Spoiler

note: This piece used far more colors than any of my previous projects this size.

DATE & TIME PROGRESS LOG:
Started stitching: September 28th 2012
Finished stitching: October 23rd 2012

Spoiler

9/28/2012
12:25am-12:35am - got Shadax's moustache done
1:00am-1:25am - got Shadax's face done
2:50am-4:20am - got brim of hat done
4:20am-5:00am
3:35pm-4:55pm
9:35pm-10:05pm
11:45pm-12:00am - got the wizard's hat done

=290minutes (4 hours 50 minutes)

9/29/2012
12:45am-1:20am
1:30am-1:50am
3:55am-4:45pm - got neck area of robe done
6:35pm-7:00pm
9:35pm-10:15pm
10:50pm-11:20pm
11:30pm-12:10pm

=240minutes (4 hours)

9/30/2012
5:20pm-5:35pm
7:30pm-8:15pm

=60minutes (1 hour)

10/1/2012
5:40pm-5:50pm - got fizzy magic bubbles done
7:40pm-8:20pm
9:25pm-10:55pm

=140minutes (2 hours 20 minutes)

10/2/2012
12:10am-12:40am - got magic bottle and hand holding it done
2:45am-3:00am
3:05am-3:35am
1:05pm-2:25pm - got open hand done

=155minutes (2 hours 35 minutes)

10/3/2012
1:10am-1:40am

=30minutes (30 minutes)

10/5/2012
12:50am-1:10am
1:15am-2:05am
5:15am-6:35am
8:20pm-10:20pm - got both of Shadax's robe's sleeves done

=270minutes (4 hours 30 minutes)

10/6/2012
2:45pm-2:55pm
6:05pm-6:25pm
9:45pm-10:15pm

=60minutes (1 hour)

10/7/2012
1:55am-3:15am - got Shadax's torso done
7:40pm-9:30pm

=190minutes (3 hours 10 minutes)

10/11/2012
4:10pm-5:10pm
7:15pm-8:55pm
10:25pm-12:25am

=280minutes (4 hours 40 minutes)

10/12/2012
3:45pm-4:45pm

=60minutes (1 hour)

10/13/2012
2:15am-3:40am
3:10pm-4:25pm
9:30pm-9:40pm - got Shadax's robe done

=170minutes (2 hours 50 minutes)

10/14/2012
5:50pm-6:05pm
7:30pm-8:35pm - got small block done
9:00pm-9:45pm

=125minutes (2 hours 5 minutes)

10/16/2012
2:00am-5:25am - got medium violet done on block below Shadax

205minutes (3 hours 25 minutes)

10/17/2012
1:45am-2:30am
2:40am-3:15am
3:40am-4:30am
2:35pm-3:15pm
3:40pm-4:00pm
4:20pm-5:15pm
5:30pm-5:50pm - done with very dark violet on block below Shadax

265minutes (4 hours 25 minutes)

10/18-19/2012
11:35pm-12:35am

60minutes (1 hour)

10/19/2012
1:05am-1:50am
6:45pm-7:00pm
9:20pm-10:00pm

=100minutes (1 hour 40 minutes)

10/20/2012
1:05am-2:10am - got large block below Shadax done
6:35pm-6:55pm
9:20pm-9:40pm
10:00pm-10:10pm

=115minutes (1 hour 55 minutes)

10/21/2012
12:45am-2:25am
7:20pm-8:50pm
9:30pm-10:05pm - got medium violet done on lowest block

=225minutes (3 hours 45 minutes)

10/22/2012
3:25pm-3:55pm - got very dark violet done on lowest block

=30minutes (30 minutes)

10/23/2012
12:00am-1:45am
3:25am-4:00am
3:20pm-3:45pm
7:00pm-7:45pm
9:10pm-9:30pm
9:50pm-10:10pm
10:25pm-11:35pm - DONE!!

=325minutes (5 hours 25 minutes)

TOTAL STITCHING TIME FOR THIS PROJECT:
3395 minutes = 56 hours 35 minutes
TOTAL STITCHES:
6257