HAED New Start SAL

What to start?? I have so many patterns I want to start NOW, that this SAL is giving me a headache- and it just started. I have a few to choose from: Luna Moth by Rachel Anderson, Mermaid of the Deep by JBG, and the 2 new JBG's (Raised by Wolves and Wolf Manor), QS Bramble Fairy by Dillhoff....those are my top pics. After much debate, I have decided to start Mermaid of the Deep. She is almost the animated version of Meta, lol.
Here is the original pic:
I am off to stitch- I would like to get 1/4 way through the first page- that's about 2000 stitches. DH is going the the Nascar race tonight, so I have the entire day to stitch until my fingers are worn to nubs. I should at least be able to stitch 2000 stitches by the time the SAL is over. Happy SAL stitching everyone!!

Metamorphosis Update

This little mermie is a delight to stitch. She appears to be slowly coming to life. I am coping with all the bg by stitching 2 full lengths of bg thread, then one length of color. I am close to finishing the first page. I had added backstitching around the eyes, but took it out because I wasn't happy with it. I think I am going to print off a pic of her face stitched, then take a pencil and draw in the eyelids until I am happy- then I'll stitch them.

Midnight Orchard

I have spent the entire weekend with Midnight Orchard. She is being stitched on 25 ct lugana using VC Silks. You can now see her ear starting to peek through. For a HAED, this is an easy stitch. Not a ton of colors, and very minimal confetti. I got about 21oo stitches in, for a grand total of 11,000. I'm going to spend a little time with Mates next. I have Tue and Wed off from work (yipee!), so I will start working on Metamorphosis again. After that, it's off to the New Start HAED SAL- probably starting Mermaid of the Deep by JBG.

Vision of Light

Here she is after the HAED August SAL challenge. I completed 4100 stitches. She is such a pleasure to stitch- the colors are fantastic. I am very close to reaching the 50% mark. Should happen during the next SAL.

Nomh Forest Fey

Well, I got to begin the third round of my rotation with a new start. I love this piece by Margaret Dean. I can't recall having seen anything of hers being stitched, which surprises me because her work is beautiful. This is the first 10 hours and is stitching up very fast for a HAED. I think there's only around 30 colors or so in it. I put a pic of the original in the side bar.

The Rest of Round 2....

Playing catch-up again. I took pics of these, but forgot to update Love Me Not. I'll try to get to that one later on today.
This is Metamorphosis- I LOVE her. I am stitching one block (100 stitches) of the background and then one color around her face (may only be 2-3 stitches). That seems to help me keep motivated. I put her in my next rotation twice, but if she screams loud enough, she may stay out longer.
Soul of a Unicorn by Josephine Wall at around 30 hours. I can't believe the detail in this little corner. Can't wait to get to the main unicorn- he's going to be wonderful!!

I'll try to get a pic of Love Me Not up today as well.

OK.... it's later. I've got my pic of Love Me Not now. She's going to be beautiful as well. It's funny, every HAED I'm stitching becomes my favorite while I'm working on it. I practically have to force myself to rotate. Hhhmm.... maybe one day I'll become an OAATer?? Probably not. But it would be nice to finish one of these beauties!

Round 2 Rotation Pix

I've had some trouble out of my rechargeable batteries lately, so I've haven't been able to take any pix of Round 2 rotation. Here's lots of pix:
Awen Inspiration at 40 hours:
Midnight Orchard at 60 hours- LOVE her flaming hair!!
This is an older BAP called 4 Horses of Apocolypse by Kustom Krafts. It has always been one of my favorite pieces, and I have started it 3 times... hopefully this will get done one day- 20 hours:

Vision of Light got hardly any attention during this rotation because I had to work the entire weekend she was on the scroll rods. Oh well, there's always next month. 370 hours:

This is my New Start/Restart slot. It is Gypsies Again, restarted 1x1 on 28 ct. monaco. 10 hours:

The Napping Hat. I have finally made it all the way across the top- that means I'll have a cute little kitty in the next row of blocks!! 60 hours:

Whew, that was a lot of pictures. Incidentally, I do not have one of Mates because I restarted that one too. That's a total of THREE restarts during this rotation!! I hated working on it because in was on 20 ct over one to make it bigger (I like 28 ct 1x1 best). I decided I would never finish it if I stitched on that fabric, and since it is supposed to be a Christmas gift, I needed to get with it and stitch!! So it is now 1x1 on 28 ct with a double mat in its future to make it bigger. lol
I am also restarting Metamorphosis by Wolk within the hour. I was originally stitching on 32 ct tent over 1. Too much tension- making it warp. Now I'm going to my favorite 28 ct monaco 1x1. I bought an entire roll of rose colored monaco (the only color they had), so I have a piece big enough. Woohoo- gotta go stitch...

My Storykeep- Buzz

I started this cute little storykeep a few months back- I only stitch on it at work, so I haven't gotten a lot done, but it sure is fun!! You can see the original pic in my ever-growing WIP list in the sidebar...

Waiting for Neptune

This is 20 hours of work on WFN. I'm doing this one 1x1 on 32 ct. I didn't think I would like this count, but it is actually fine. The coverage is great- sometimes I feel like it looks a little "bumpy," but only when you're up close inspecting it.

Can't wait to get more done on this one. I think the colors are wonderful and addictive.

This weekend I have been stitching on Waiting for Neptune. I should have a new progress pic up late Sunday or Monday. I have also been frogging my Mask of Colors. I decided to restart it 1x1 instead of tent stitch, so it has taken a while to frog!!
Wanted to update my July goals as follows:
1- 2000 stitches Awen Inspiration
2- 1000 stitches Waiting for Neptune
3- 4000 stitches Vision of Light
4- 2000 stitches Midnight Orchard
5- 1000 stitches The Napping Hat
6-3000 stitches Mates (non HAED)
If I could stick to one pattern, there's no doubt I could finish by the end of the year, but i have so many I want to stitch!! I figure instead it will take longer, but I should be able to have a few finishes in the next few years... if HAED would stop putting out so many great patterns... just kidding!!

Awen Inspiration

This is an update on my Celtic stitching. I'm not really a fan of Celtic things, but HAED's new artist Jen Delyth has wonderful artwork!! I already have three patterns from her and plan to own more before the week is out due to the HAED July 4th sale. I'm still holding out before ordering to see if they release any more "must haves." This is on 28 ct monaco, and yes, the fabric is pale rose. It was the only piece I had big enough- I thought stitching red and orange on the pale pink would make me sick, but it's not bad at all. It's just the canvas I'm using and the rose color disappears as I stitch ;)

Midnight Orchard

This past weekend was the 5th weekend Potts/Daniels SAL on the HAED BB. Perfect opportunity for me to stitch on Midnight Orchard. I completed 1500 stitches. I can't wait until she's up again in my rotation because I will get to start stitching on her hair again!! I'm using 25 ct lugana with VC silks 1x1.

Vision of Light

I finally finished those last few hundred stitches in the bottom right corner. I am now 45% done... isn't she lovely?

She looks so alive IRL. One of my yearly goals is to complete the first 12 pages of VoL. I am now 3/4 of the way there.

Fairy Day SAL

I started Magpie Fairy by Josephine Wall for the HAED BB Fairy Day SAL. My DH actually picked this one out. I had seen it on the site before, but didn't really pay much attention to it. Turns out, if you really look at the original, there's all kinds of trinkets that this little thief has taken- hence the name. I absolutely fell in love!!
Now, don't get me wrong, this is NOT an easy piece to stitch. It is by far the hardest HAED that I have going... I thought Revelation was hard. Nope, not compared to Magpie!! And I'm just on the fringes... I'm sure as I keep going it will become even more chaotic.
Here's my pic so far:

I may keep stitching on this one for a while. It's technically time to move on to something else in my rotation, but since I don't have a time limit set (must be at least 10 hours per slot, but can stitch more), I may keep going. This is 30 hours so far on Magpie. I didn't have to work this weekend so I had all kinds of time to stitch.

Soul of a Unicorn

I thought I would post a pic of a recent start by Josephine Wall- Soul of a Unicorn. This piece is fantastic. I'm sure it will become very difficult with tons of confetti, but right now it's smooth sailing. I'm stitching this 1x1 on 28 ct. rose monaco.

Busy Stitching

Hi everyone. I am busy stitching for the Fairy Day SAL. I am stitching Magpie Fairy (my New Start). Thought I would check in and share my new rotation plans....
I am using the Random Researcher to mix these 10 catagories up- there's a link in the sidebar if anyone would like to use it. It goes like this:

1- BK Lusk
2- Non HAED BAP
3- Sheila Wolk
4- Josephine Wall
5- Celtic
6- Ian Daniels
7- Free slot (absolutely anything goes)
8- Miscellaneous HAED
9- New Start
10- Quick Stitch

I am stitching anything I want to by each particular artist, but definitely concentrating on Vision of Light by BK Lusk. I have links to all the charts I picked for this first rotation in the sidebar. I think I should make it at least one or two months on this rotation. Who knows. I may change it all around again tomorrow! lol

My Birthday Charts

I was very happy to find HAED having a Father's Day sale since it was my birthday weekend!!
I bought the following charts:

1- Unicorns Cut and Bright
2- Surfer's Dream
3- Mer-Angel
4- Purple Moon
5- Dreams of Unicorns
6- The Tower of Stoney Wood

I also made a new start- my first Josephine Wall- Soul of a Unicorn. I just love confetti.

Working on My Blog...

I've been spending a lot of time recently trying to get my blog in order. I promise I'll have some WIP pics up soon. If you look at the side bar, you'll see a lot of changes. I added a slide show of various finished pieces (no HAEDs finished yet, lol). I'm also putting up WIP pics of each of my HAEDs- there's more than I have listed right now.
I'm still not sure if I like this layout. I think I would like to have a left and right side bar, but so far haven't figured that one out....
Hope everyone has a great day!!

This is Midnight Orchard after the 5th week SAL at the end of April. I think she is going to be beautiful!!

Revelation

I have been stitching on Revelation for the past week. I recently restarted on 25 ct pink lugana 1x1. I had been stitching 2x1 half cross on linen, but the fabric was warping. So rather than waste more time, I restarted. Here's a pic- I did it without the flash, because with the flash it seemed too bright. You'll have to ignore the shadow at the top :)



Now for my other HAED projects that are 2x1 tent stitch... I am restarting them all. Why? Same reason. If they were started on linen or lugana, the fabric is not strong enough to keep from warping. My Vision of Light is stitched on Monaco which is much stronger than linen or lugana, so it will be fine. I am also leaving Sea of Roses alone because it is on Monaco. The others have just a little done, so no matter what the fabric, they're getting the restart and 1x1 treatment. I like the look of the 1x1 better anyway. I used to think that 2x1 tent was twice as fast as 1x1, but turns out confetti is confetti. An extra millisecond to cross the top leg really doesn't matter when you have to rethread your needle 50 times in a 10 x 10 block!!

Hope everyone has a great stitching week!!

Vision of Light Update

Well, here she is after the April SAL challenge on the HAED BB. I decided to do a "chunk" instead of stitching straight across. I had no idea how much faster it would be! I completed over 5000 stitches during the SAL- probably because I didn't have to rethread the needle over and over and could actually complete a color all the way down. I stitched in five block coloumns.

I've now reached the 50,000 stitch mark and it has taken 300 hours!

I've included an up close pic of the jewelry. Had to be a little dark to show the beautiful sparkle. It took about 8 hours from start to finish. I used DMC precious metals and antique effects. Very fickle stuff to stitch with, but worth it. The hardest part was trying to "chart" the jewelry. Obviously, there were more colors charted than I had to choose from and it was also difficult to decide which part was necklace and which was skin. So, I did my best and am happy with the result. There's a little metallic blob of knots in between the earring and the necklace- you'll have to excuse that. I couldn't do a loop start with this metallic stuff, so intead of tent stitching, I did it 1x1 full cross. I think I'll like the contrast with the rest of the piece which is tent stitch 2x1. Oh, and I did this out of sequence to give me time to change my mind and frog it all out before I actually get there with the cotton. It's virtually impossible to frog very much when you park threads without tearing out the stitches you want to keep!!

The last pic is there because I'm going to use one of the colors as the gems set in her jewelry. Still haven't decided which one. I'll probably wait until I get there with the cotton part to decide.

Changing my rotation and April goals

I have decided to rotate based on "screaming" rather than my normal list of WIPs. I think that will make stitching much more enjoyable. I was becoming overwhelmed with the thought that I must stitch this or that because it was coming up in the rotation and having to put one that I loved away to stitch on a lesser favorite. So, now I am stitching whatever I want whenever I want to... let's face it, it's not like I'm going to get all these HAEDs done in my lifetime anyway!!

I'm also going to try to remember to list my monthly goals... my April goals are as follows:

1- 2000 stitches on Revelation (my restart)
2- 4500 stitches on Vision of Light
3- Start QS The Napping Hat by Molly Harrison
4- 1500 stitches on Midnight Orchard
5- 1500 stitches on La Belle

I am also going to do my best to remember to post progress pics of each of my goals.

The HAED BB had an Easter Creature SAL- the perfect opportunity to start The Napping Hat. Here she is after the SAL with 5500 stitches done (17.6% complete)


She screams very loudly to be stitched, however so does Vision of Light. I'll be stitching VoL this weekend for the April Challenge SAL.

Vision of Light 27% done!!

I have finally reached the 25% mark on VoL. Actually 27.1% to be exact. She now has a nose and lips and even a few fingers!! This piece is so beautiful. The colors are wonderful. I can't wait to see her on my wall!!

This is my start on Mask of Colors. It is being stitched on 32 ct. bittersweet lugana over 1 tent stitch. I have a good start so far... I think the fabric will look nice with this one. Unfortunately, the pic doesn't do it justice.

So Far This February...

Well, this month's almost over and this is my first post. I have been dealing with the flu for the past week. I have several pics to show from earlier the month.
This first pic is my newest HAED start on Midnight Orchard by Ian Daniels. I am using Vikki Clayton silks. They are very beautiful. This is stitched 1x1 on 25 ct lugana.

Today I also was able to finally complete the top 5 rows on La Belle Dame Sans Merci. This is also done 1x1 on 25 ct.

This is my start on Love Me Not by Selena Fenech. It is done 1x1 on 28 ct evenweave.

One of my February goals was to finish the second row of blocks on Revelation. This piece is very beautiful with lots of confetti... when I get frustrated, I just have to look back at the progress pics of others to see it will be worth it!!

This is another BAP, but a break from HAED. It is called Rainbow Wind. The original artwork is by Joni Solis- converted to cross stitch by Jodi Watson of the Golden Hoop. This one is very colorful and one of my favorite subjects- horses!!

Catching up on a few pics....

Well, I haven't updated in a while, so I have three pics to show. The first is La Belle Dame Sans Merci charted by Michelle at Heaven and Earth Designs. Anyone who has seen my PictureTrail Album

has probably seen my initial start on La Belle by Unicorn Designs. That company is out of business. I have been so pleased with my HAED charts that I decided to restart- I like the darker reds in the HAED chart. The other one has a more peachy colored dress. So, I am going to work on this one a while and see what happens. I may go back to the other one, but so far so good.

This next pic is my start on Tracy Butler's Martyrs. I got tired of the black border and just had to stitch some of the skyline.

And finally, my start on Poet by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law (also HAED). This one is very dark with lots of 310 and 939, but I think the beautiful gold fish in the pool will be worth it in the end.

Revelation

I have finished one of my January goals- to complete the top row of blocks on Revelation. The first half was hard going, especially when I got to the middle reddish colors. After that, the rest was easy. I must say, of all the HAEDs I am working on, so far this seems to be the hardest. This is 30 hours of work so far with 4400 stitches completed (2%).

Vision of Light

Well, here she is after an entire weekend of stitching. This is the first weekend of the HAED SAL Challenge. I completed 3,100 stitches. She has an eye!! I am now 20.6% complete.

The Oath

Well, I received my latest HAED order earlier this week. I ordered:

1- Pumpkin Pixie- JBG
2- Jewele- JBG
3- Belladona's Gift- JBG
4- A Pale Comparison- JBG
5- A Rose Among Thorns- Ian Daniels
6- When Fairies Talk- Christensen
7- Wood Nymph- Josephine Wall
8- Butterfly Fairy- B.K. Lusk

I've been stitching like crazy. This weekend is the 2007 Challenge SAL, and I will be getting back to Vision of Light.

Here's a progress pic of The Oath by James Christensen. I love this one- looks like an old world doctor with lots of concoctions on the shelves... and of course the famous fish is hiding out on the shelf as well. Lots of green. Just started and have only done 1300 stitches for a grand total of .5%... lots more to do!!!

Vision of Light

This weekend is the HAED 2007 Challenge SAL. I will be stitching my already started Vision of Light. Here are a couple of before pics:

I added a closeup of the butterfly. It is so pretty in person. My ultimate goal for this year is to complete half of this chart. So far, I have 18.5% complete (27,700 stitches).I am stitching on 28 Monaco 2 over 1 tent stitch... really feels like cheating, but the coverage is great, and I feel like it's twice as fast ;)

My New Years Insanity

Well, I took the plunge on January 1st and had a whirl-wind day of starting HAEDs... all my most favorite ones. I have a semi-strict policy of finishing 2 WIPs before I can start a new one EXCEPT on Jan 1st I can start anything. I have tried to stick to this plan for the past 3 years. So, since it was the first, I started 18 HAEDs!!

1- Revelation- Wolk OOP
2- Field of Dreams- Wolk OOP
3- The Garland- Wolk OOP
4- Metamorphosis- Wolk OOP
5- The Master Plan- Ravenscroft
6- Mask of Colors- Ravenscroft
7- Waiting for Neptune- Ravenscroft
8-Sea of Roses- Fenech
9- Love Me Not- Fenech
10- Midnight Secrets- Fenech
11- Poet- SPML
12- The Oath- Christensen
13- Old World Santa- Christensen
14- Fire in the Soul- Bergsma
15- Christmas Journey- Gilbert
16- Merlin and Arthur- Gustafson
17-Martyrs- Butler
18- Gypsies Again- Butler

I am actually concentrating on Vision of Light (B. K. Lusk- already started) which I will work on during the HAED SAL. I have another weekend devoted to Revelation. The rest I work on randomly... yep, this is going to be the year of the BAP for me!! I am going to do my best to take progress pics and post them in my blog.

Here's my first progress pic on Sea of Roses


I have completed about 800 stitches- that's 1.1%. The colors are so pretty!!

The next pic is Revelation. I worked on Rev all weekend- Doesn't seem especially difficult yet, but just getting through the top 10 rows are very time consuming. I am just over half way across the top. I have completed 2350 stitches for a total of 1.1 % complete on this one as well. DH would like to see this one on the wall tomorrow!!

What a great weekend!!

I have had a wonderful weekend. I cross stitched on Vision of Light all day Saturday while watching my favorite channel - Turner Classic Movies. I also received some more HAEDs in the mail. These I had to search the net forever to find... Sheila Wolk's Revelation, Metamorphosis, The Garland and Field of Dreams. I was able to purchase them from Dark Lilac (www.darklilac.com). I had to pay a little more since they are OOP, but it was well worth it, IMHO. I'm still looking for the Gatekeeper. If anyone out there has one that they know they'll never stitch, I'd love to have it!! I don't know if Dark Lilac has any more Wolks or not... I may have gotten the last ones.
To top off a great weekend, DH and I drove to Nashville to see our first pro football game- Titans vs. Giants. Wow, what a game!! The Titans were down 21-0 in the fourth quarter, and we started to leave (it's a 4 1/2 hr drive!). Luckily, we decided to stay to see one more series of downs and that's when Pac Man Jones got an interception... then it was off to the races!! Titans pulled it off 24-21 in the biggest come back in franchise history (since they've been in Nashville, anyway).
The only thing that could have made the weekend better would be to have one more day off....

Vision of Light- first progress pic

So, I'm surfing the web around Memorial Day. I had been up most of the night before finishing a Christmas cross stitch and had to work that day. I was too exhausted to stitch. I stumbled across the HAED website. I thought, oh another one of those computer generated sites of beautiful paintings that look horrible when stitched (I have been burned before, can you tell??). I saw the link to the BB... and WOW all those WIPs and finished pieces were FABULOUS!!!!!!!! My favorite was Vision of Light by B. K. Lusk, a WIP by ropane, so I had to have it immediately by email. I also ordered Loves Me Not, Fire in the Soul, Midnight Secrets, Merlin and Arthur, and Waiting for Neptune. I think I could spend days looking at HAED's site and always find something new. I have since made another list of charts I want for Christmas.
I have no idea how Michele and Bob do it. The charts are NOT computer generated so it makes every stitch count. CG charts will have strange confetti stitches like a green stitch in the middle of a field of black. So far Vision of Light looks exactly the way it should... I don't think I have ever been so excited and happy stitching anything!! I still have an ornament and small piece to XS before Christmas, so I may have to get DH to hide VoL so I have to work on them.....
So, without further ado, here's my one week progress pic. Oh, and I am tent stitching which I have never done to an entire piece. I didn't like it at first but made myself keep stitching, and once everything started to take shape (twice as fast!!) I loved it!
I wish you could see it in person!!

Stitching Again

Well, I have been on a 6 month hiatus
from stitching, but I am finally back.
I thought I should update my blog.
I finished Little Witch just before Halloween.
Isn't she lovely?


I have also been stitching on Polly Phillip from the Scarlet Letter. It is very colorful and fun to stitch. This is 70 hours of work. The outside border is cross stitch and the inside pastoral scenes (there's 3 of them) are tent stitch over one. I'm using VC silks.

My true stitching passion right now is HAED's Vision of Light. I have stitched nonstop on it. I hope to have a picture uploaded later today of my one week progress.

Skeleton Crew- slow going

I really love this pattern, but for some reason I can't get into it like I thought I would. Maybe it's all the white sails... anyway, I am stitching the skeletons in DMC's glow in the dark white floss. They look cool when the lights are off.
I got an unexpected day off today, so I am catching up on Polly Phillip 1772 and She Gathers. I hope to get WIP pics of them soon as well. Then it's back to Skeleton Crew....

Finally enjoying a sunny day,
Rebecca in TN

And They Sinned

This is my latest UFO that I finally pulled out of the closet. I stitched on it 30 hours (for a total of 130 hrs), and now it's back to the closet. Hopefully it won't be long before I'll get it out again. It's such a beautiful piece! I really need to get this one finished before And God Created comes out. Of course, no one knows how long that will be. Hopefully this pic won't look as fuzzy as Rebecca Cullin 1801. Unsure what happened there!
My wonderful DH is working on a wooden lap stand for me to set my lap frame that is similar to one at Hoffman called the "Lap-Stitch Frame Pal"
http://www.hoffmandis.com/ I have all three of the Images lap frames (Original, Mini, and Mini-mini). They can all be seen at the Hoffman site with the "Pal."The Mini is by far my fav for medium to large projects and the Mini-mini for small projects (I should mention I also have a Gazelle and a floor stand and countless Q-snaps,lol ) I highly recommend Images frames as long as one rips off that horrible black fabric that is stapled to the bars and replaces it with American Dream E-Z Stitch No Basting tape. I use this on almost everything I stitch. http://www.adp-usa.com/
Since I usually work on wide projects, DH is going to customize the frame for me with wings on the sides. The one at Hoffman is just too narrow.

Hope everyone has a great day!
Rebecca in TN

Rebecca Cullin 1801

Well, it's been awhile... I have had a few finishes. Happy Hearts Sampler by BOAF is at the framers. Today I finished Patchwork Cats by Carriage House Samplings. I changed all the colors to Crescent Colors- picked at random. Really enjoyed it!It can be seen in the Recent Finishes sidebar.
I wanted to share a pic of one of my favorite WIPs. It's called Rebecca Cullin 1801 by The Scarlet Letter. I am using 40 ct. double pearled barley and Vikki Clayton silks. The freehand embroidery in this one seems difficult- especially since this is my first attempt at embroidery. I took a lot of liberty with the carnation to make it look more like the original sampler. I hope to finish this year.