Finished!!!

TA DAAA!!!



I had a marathon stitching day yesterday, and finished the last three stacked diamond sections.  At three hours each, that was a lot of stitching. 



Then, even though it was 11:00 pm, I decided to get a start on cutting around the outside edge.  The deadline for Fair entries was looming (5:00 pm today) and even though I had finished the stitching, the looooooong edges were making me nervous.  I figured I could do one or two sides last night as insurance, then finish it off this morning.

Well, once I got going I couldn't stop, and I finished cutting around the whole outside at 2:45 am. I staggered off to bed, and then all I had to do today was wash, press, and attach the clips.



I love it.  I love everything about it.



After the fair, I may revisit the idea of putting in holes for the curtain rod instead of using the clips, and I may put in some more lines of cable stitch or other filler in the plain fabric area (or not).  But for now, I really love it just the way it is.

This curtain took most of half a yard of 32-count Belfast linen (finished size is 42" x 16"), 3.5 balls of #8 perle cotton, and 3.5 balls of #12 perle cotton.  Total stitching time was 348 hours.  The needleweaving in the cut areas took all of the past five weeks, and just that part alone took about 160 hours.  This was an intensive push to finish before the fair, and I have the callus on my finger to prove it; this is where I "bounce" the needle back up as I weave the bars.



This is the biggest hardanger piece I've ever made, and I'm so glad I stuck to it.