Dragon of the Sea

This is one in a three part series of oriental dragons. The other two parts are called Dragon of the Clouds and Dragon of the Mountains. This series and any others I can collect that are similar in art form and color scheme are for my second son's quilt. He wants a dragon quilt and I think he should have one!

I have the patterns for these dragons in a book called Magical Cross Stitch, a David & Charles Book. It has some really wonderful patterns in it, especially if you like fantasy.




I was working on a Celtic Peacock for a contest but found I had started stitching at the wrong point. By the time I realized my mistake it was far too late for any sane ripping.

As you can see, I am several inches shy of having the space required to finish the tail feathers. Because this is done on linen, there have been several ideas thrown at me on how to remedy the problem and finish the piece. My best idea so far is to stitch to a point, start a new point on a new piece of linen and somehow fuse the two pieces together. My only worry is a possible gap or hideous looking overlay.

I am doing this project again on 14 count aida that I have hand dyed using tea bags to get a more "ancient" look to the fabric. With this new version of the peacock I am also taking pictures of my progress so that I can make a video of it when I'm finished to post on my YouTube account. I researched YouTube a little to see if there were others who have done this and I found nothing. It doesn't mean no one else has done it yet, just that I couldn't find anything right off hand.

My daughter found a Santa Claus book for me. I collect Santa's and Snowmen...makes me wonder if I have a thing for "big" guys. I'm hoping to get one pattern done before that holiday over takes us all, but I have several others that have priority right now. It is already the end of October and I really don't see the time being there for the fun stuff.

As always I have to ask why life feels it is so important as to interefere constantly and consistantly with my crafts? If I were smart I'd make my work my crafts, but here in Alaska that would really be a seasonal business....hmmmmmmm but then again, I would have many months of snowy, wonderful winter to do my wonderful crafty things!

I suppose it might be a good idea to start seriously considering this idea instead of griping about it. I'll let you know what I come up with.

When all else fails in life, cross stitch will out!