Friday, October 07, 2011

questions about Chinese Mandala...

Rachel and Joyce, I blame you for this post.
But also need one of you to answer some questions, haha!

I've been thinking about doing a Chatelaine for a while now.  Just ONE, because they're huge and complex and expensive, so I had to take my time and pick the right one.  I've been torn between Chinese Mandala, Butterfly Sparkly Garden, and the new underwater mystery (and I totally looked at the full preview, so there!).

But you two with your constant Chinese Mandala updates have shoved me over the edge!  I was dying after the spring scene, and then Joyce had to post a detailed closeup of the summer scene.  Self control = gone!

So, about three minutes and $40 later, I have a few questions for you two. :p

- Did you guys get the materials kit or assemble them on your own?
- Does the "full kit" include the bead pack as well?  Kind of odd that it's a separate item...
- AM I CRAZY???????

And don't forget to check my previous post and enter my giveaway.  Wheeeeeeee.
(okay, no more sugar)

9 comments:

  1. Hi Rahenna

    The Chinese Mandala is gorgeous - you will love stitching it. I am loving Joyce's and Rachel's progress (I am still back on Part 1 - blame doing Baroque Garden instead).

    It is probably easier to buy this as a kit (the Eterna silks can be difficult to get) if you are going to use Martina's suggested threads. I buy my Chatelaines as a kit. The full kit contains the beads, the bead pack is for people who have the floss but need an easy way of buying the beads.

    What fabric are you going to use? I look forward to seeing your progress

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  2. Rahenna, *giggle* you won't regret it. CG is just soooo much fun to stitch. Does this mean you're going to start it as soon as you get all the stuff?

    Wendy's answered all your questions, so I'll add that I get the full kits from ECC. It's much easier that way and opening up the package is a whole wonder of its own. :D

    And yes, what fabbie are you thinking??? :D

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  3. Rahenna, good choice!! (though I am also doing the Deep Blue Sea, lol, am I crazy? Yes, but that's ok, I have come to terms with it, lol!! {And the Medieval Town Mandala is in progress as well, with Egypt Mandala and Greek Mandala very high up on the to do list!!!})

    As for your questions, I am the oddball in the Chatelaine world I think. I can not spend that much money on a kit, my Chinese Garden is stitched entirely in DMC, and I love it! I did buy the bead pack from ECC though. That was only $25.

    Oh, and being crazy is ok, nothing to be ashamed of, lol. :D

    (((Hugs)))

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  4. Hi, I'm back!! :D I wanted to add that Rachel is not odd or crazy. :) Saving money is a great thing, and the more Chat she has on her plate, the more pretties we get to see. Mwa-hahahaha!

    She brings up a great point, lots of people do conversions. The silks are so expensive, that with her new charts, Martina includes a DMC conversion, which helps with the cost tremendously.

    For me, I've waited and bugged Martina for CG for years, and I knew that this is one that I will stitch as charted and was prepared for the cost. My Taj Mahal, I bought a friend's kit at 50% off, and the Japanese Garden kit was a birthday gift. I'm so spoilt. LOL.

    I haven't quite decided with future pieces if I'll replace NPI's with DMC's... It's tempting as DMC is a fraction of the cost. But on variegated floss, I plan to always use what's charted.

    Alright, enough of this essay... ;) do keep us updated will ya and you have my email addy. :)

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  5. Yeah, I'm not sure what I want to do about the silks... they're really expensive, but I only intend to do one Chatelaine (haha, famous last words) so I'm considering going all out and getting the full kit! I might request that as my (only, haha) Christmas present.

    What fabric works best for these? I usually use 32ct, but will that fit the beads well? And I've neverrrr done over one before, so I'm kind of scared! :p

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  6. My Chinese Garden in on 28ct Antique white lugana. My MTM is on 32ct Belfast. It's really up to you. Martina seems to recommend Belfast for the most part, so far that I have seen. The delica beads seem like they fit well on both 32 and 28ct, but the treasures and cubes I don't know about. I have only worked the beads on the Strawberry freebie for the Chatelaine exchange. So I am not yet experienced in the beading part of a Chatelaine.

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  7. All of mine has been on 32. I prefer the stitching size of the X on it. As for the fabric, it's your preference as so linen or evenweave. Linen gives a more tactile look and evenweave is more well... even. LOL!

    WIth CG, I'm stitching on lugana. Taj Mahal was stitched on belfast, and Japanese Garden was on jobelan, as is Spring Knotgarden. :)

    As for the price of the kit, yeah, it's pricey, but as hubby put it, "You're going to have so much fun with it, and it's a big project that's going to take months. So if you break it down to 12 months, that's a little than $30 a month, and that's a great price to pay for your hobby." Who am I to argue? ;)

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  8. Rachel... hmm, I have a yard of 28ct white lugana that was in my mom's stash. But I do prefer Belfast with the slightly smaller X. Delicas fit very well on Belfast, I usually bead my Miras with random Delicas from my stash since I also do beadweaving. :D You won't run into any trouble with those!

    That's how I'm thinking about it too, Joyce - with the chart and materials, it's going to be about $365 for a project meant to last a year. That's a dollar a day for something that will eventually be a very special piece of art! I actually tried pricing the pieces myself and was thinking $300 was nuts when I found all the Eterna for $30 total... and then I started checking the other threads. With shipping from multiple stores, it would actually cost MORE to assemble the kit myself!

    HOWEVER. No new starts until I have another finish! *stomps foot!*

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  9. Haha, I just realized that I asked about the beads fitting, and now I'm posting like an authority on the subject. Must have had a brain fart when I asked that question, because I already knew the answer! XD

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