The week with Seasons Winter

Seasons Winter at 15%

This past week, my stitching time was spent with Seasons Winter and I am very pleased with the piece.  As always, I didn't get as much done as I had hoped but I love having her face nearly finished.

Much of my stitching time was spent with goodies that will be going onto ebay -- again.  I continue to try to get my "resource center" from spread all over the house to one or two closets.  If you are looking for interesting stitching, I have decided to sell my Special Projects (Kay Montclare of World In Stitches) and Sue Lentz kits.  There will (hopefully) be about 10 items each week -- all needlework realted -- sampler kits and charts, yarn, Bucilla felt kits, quilt fabric and various needlework supplies.

I have another blog that links pics to my ebay sales and you can find it at jbf auctions -- hope you find something you love!

On The Stove -- HAED by Strelkina

On the Stove - Started 30 March 2012

I joined in the Heaven and Earth Week 5 SAL with a new project.  This is my start for "On The Stove" (about 540 stitches).  Yeah!! Something on my 2012 project list --  any stitching at all counts so I can finally say I have actually accomplished something on my list.  This project is also on my HAED yearly goal list with the specific goal to complete pages 5 and 6 -- that is the upper right - I stitch right to left with my top cross going bottom left to top right.

I am stitching On the Stove on 18 count aida using 2 strands of DMC.  The finished size will be enormous at 19.44 inches by 25.39 inches.  It appears that this was charted using art work from a laquer box (click on this link to go to the Strelkina website:  On the Stove) -- that would account for the shadow edges and curve of the corners.

The chart does not fill in the corner triangles but I will probably use one of the main colors to fill it in.  I'm not a huge fan of aida cloth but when I stitch something that is solid like this the slubs on linen create a bump that I don't want.  Bottom line, I don't want the aida to show and if I fill in the corners it will cover the fabric and as a bonus it will also give me a bit more flexibility in finishing.

Chaos Continues with block 10 and Seasons Winter XS

Block 10 - Christmas Potpourri

Over the weekend I completed another block in the Christmas Chaos quilt.  The fabrics are waiting to be starched and pressed for blocks 11 and 12.

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During the week, I spent my stitching time with SK Seasons Winter.  This is a pretty slow go.... much threading and re-threading with the constant color changes.  I don't do well with cross country stitching but it might be a faster technique.   It sounds like I'm whining but not so -- I am enjoying the project.

Another Xmas Quilt Block

I just finished block number seven of the Christmas Potpourri BOM!  The fabric for block 8 is drying and I hope to have it ready to go today.

The block would have been done sooner if I hadn't be sidetracked by my HAED project SK Seasons Winter.  It was stitch-a-long week and I got about 500 or so stitches in.  At this rate it will be finished ... yikes ... I don't want to think about it!

SK Seasons Winter at about 10%

I have been working on an order for a new floor stand and scroll frame set from Needle Needs in the UK.  I promised myself that I would place the order as soon as I finished block 7 --- off I went and the item I want went out of stock.  How sad is that??  I hope they have it available again soon.

The best laid plans....

ok, that might be a bit of a stretch.

Once again, I spent far too much time wandering the HAED website relentlessly -- this time,  trying to decide how best to take advantage of the leap year sale.  I had the six Cluny tapestry reproduction charts in my cart at least four times but decided against them ... for now.  This is one of my favorite HAED's  --

The photo is from the Heaven and Earth Designs website -- art by K. Craft

No idea when I will start stitching this but for now it's -- mine, mine, mine.

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Pineapple Bellpull design by B. Jackson for Fine Lines

I am enjoying stitching the Pineapple Bellpull.  I was expecting to have completed the great lady and more,  however -- see above.  The verse was the start of part 2 of 4 -- rather than using tent, I stitched the verse as complete cross stitches.

Cross Stitch Stitch-A-Longs

There are not enough hours in the day ... the number of projects that I would like to complete is staggering and like most stitchers and quilters that doesn't seem to stop me planning and purchasing for even more!!

This past week I worked on the SK Seasons Winter cross stitch project and it is coming along nicely -- between blogging and joining into SAL's (stitch-a-longs), I am more likely to focus on my needlework rather than spending what seems like endless hours surfing online.  So... this is what Seasons Winter looks like right now.

Yep, this looks like it is barely started and has a long way to go....  this will likely be a work in progress for most of the year.

I am trying to go with rotating projects but I'm not so sure that will work for me.  It might be too long between finishes!!

 

Staying on task -- not exactly!! A new HAED start

Staying on task is really hard for me -- so many fabulous projects call my name.  I made my list for 2012 and almost immediately added a new start (ok, two)....

I was wandering through the HAED (Heaven and Earth Designs) works in progress and saw someone working on storykeep - a cute name for a bookmark.  I really like the artist and bought the chart.  As luck would have it, there was a SAL (stitch a long)  for the smaller HAED charts .  I jumped on board on Sunday and assembled supplies -- happily, I had almost everything.

Here is the finished artwork:

Storykeep Seasons Winter by Strelkina
photo from HAED (heavenandearthdesigns.com)

I am, and always have been a slow stitcher.  This is my start:

The stitch count is  75 by 312 - on 18 count the finished size will be about 3 1/8 inches by 17 1/3.  I am using ivory 18 count aida with 2 strands of dmc.  I have never been a huge fan of aida but the variation of the thread width of linen was not something I wanted for a HAED project.

Before I started Seasons Winter I did most of the grid work on my two other HAEDs.  While I was stitching away I had a epiphany about the St. Basil's needlepoint project.  I have not put in a single stitch in St Basi'ls since the class and I decided it was because I wasn't happy with the shape of the domes.  I have been doing a bit of dome adjustment and hope to get a decent outline on the canvas this week.

More Ornaments -- much research

This week I finished two more of the bead/sequin ornaments in red and will be packing that craft box away for a while.  In total, I made 6 of the bead/sequin ornaments.

The photo above is the only cross stitch ornament I managed to stitch in 2011.  I will use one of the mini frames in gold for the finishing - unless I get really ambitious and try another finishing process and that isn't likely.  The pattern is from Kount of Kappie, Book 36, Trim Your Tree with Stitch 'n Stuff, 1982.  The piece is stitched on 22 count Hardander in white using DMC floss, 1 strand over 1.

I have already posted in my 2012 list one design by HAED that I plan to start soon.  Well, if one is good, two must be better!!  I added one of the Escher charts to my list.  Instead of stitching for the first week of the year, I used my stitching time to surf relentlessly the Heaven and Earth Designs (HAED) board and the HAED SAL.  I looked at the fabulous work done by other stitchers while trying to decide how to stitch the Escher.  After some trial stitching and gathering opinions - a giant thank you to the stitchers on the HAED board who provided great feedback - decisions have been made and supplies have been purchased -- time to get started.

 

 

On The Stove by N. Strelkina - Heaven and Earth Designs

"On the Stove" - original art by N. Strelkina

photo from -- http://public.fotki.com/strelkina/boxes-fedoskino/580.html

There are a few companies that create cross stitch charts that are massive, intimidating and amazing.  One of them is Heaven and Earth Designs (HAED) , they have an extremely large and diverse selection of charts available -- to date, I have purchased three and have my eye on a few more.  I'm a little reluctant to make too much of an investment in additional charts because most do not show a completed stitched piece and I find that a bit odd.  Based on the number of new charts that are added to the website I'll guess that they are using a program that helps to ensure accuracy.

Despite my concern, I have gathered all of the supplies to start my first HAED - "On The Stove" by Nadezhda Strelkina.  This is so beautiful that I couldn't help myself.  I suppose it would be much easier to order a print but this piece is speaking to me.  The chart count is 350 x 457 -- larger than anything I have stitched (or attempted to stitch).

"On the Stove" was included in my 2012 stitching goals as a new start.  There is no doubt that it will be a project that will span years.