I won a HAED chart!

The Heaven and Earth Designs forum ran a game of bingo for fairy day and I nearly fainted when I won it! Two other ladies won as well and instead of selecting one of us to win the prize, HAED very kindly agreed to give all three of us a free chart. I chose Pirate by Selina Fenech. I am delighted to have won and to be able to select a chart that I love.

This week I worked on HAED's 'At First Sight' by Linda Tso. You wouldn't say I was addicted to HAED charts would you. Well here is my progress so far:

If you click on the image it will take you to see what it should look like when finished. I loved working on this design it has been the easiest so far of any of the HAED Charts I have worked on. I didn't spend as much time stitching this week so there isn't a lot done.

I worked on HAED's 'QS Believe' on Wednesday. This is my progress so far (again you can see what is should look like by clicking on the image):

I enjoy stitching this much more on the 18 count.

I am sorting out Lavender and Lace's 'The Quiltmaker' and hope to start stitching on it this weekend. I don't know why but every time I go to type 'Quiltmaker' I end up typing 'Guiltmaker'.

I took the plunge and changed my blog template. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be. Don't know why but I was in a pink mood. The colour will no doubt change from time to time. I also designed a banner for the top, eventually I want to add something more 'cross stitch' to it.

This week's stitching time was concentrated on Celtic Winter. I didn't have as much time to spend stitching as usual but I am pleased with the progress made anyway. This is what Celtic Winter looks like now:

The dress is finished except for the hem.

Tonight I will start gridding for HAED's 'At First Sight' - YUK. I don't enjoy gridding but I do prefer stitching with it in place. This design (when I start the stitching) fits in with my pink mood. :)

Second Happy Dance of 2007

I would like to share my second cross stitch happy dance of 2007:

This is 'Bring on the Snow' by Waxing Moon.

Here is my progress on Tomboy:

Another 1% done bringing the total complete to 43.2%

I re-started HAED's QS Believe last night on 18 count Aida. I only got a few stitches in after gridding so not worth a photo yet.

For those who would like to know where the seven hearts are hidden in the picture I posted last week, here is the answer:

I have just discovered that some emails are not getting through, so if you have sent me an email and not had a reply please re-send it, thanks.

Tonight I will be stitching on Celtic Winter.

This is my start on HAED's Cabin in the Woods:

I started on page 19 instead of the top left as I usually do. Sorry the photo isn't too good, it does look better IRL. I should get more done the next time I work on this as most of the gridding is done and all the threads are sorted ready and cut into workable lengths.

I haven't been getting as much stitching time lately, so not much to show in this post. I did put a total of 3 stitches into HAED's Seven Hearts on Wednesday. It was our 7th wedding anniversary and although I didn't have time to spend stitching I wanted to have made a start with this chart on the day. We got this design as we thought it was suitable for the occasion.

There are seven hearts hidden in the picture, can you find them?

Update Continued

Following on from my last post here are the two promised photos.

DMC - Tiger and Cub:

I had fun gridding the black and sorting the threads of the kit - not.   It was the worst kit I have had for sorting threads out. For example there were six or seven shades of grey with descriptions such as pale grey and light grey. Then there were the oranges etc.. The totals of the strands didn't help either as mostly they were the same quantity. Luckily I have a DMC shade card (and a fantastic husband, who helped a lot), as in the end I had to use that to work out which thread was which. This is the left ear which is 9.4% of the total. I was gradually getting used to stitching on the black before I moved on. I am looking forward to stitching on this again.

HAED - QS Believe:

I decided to try 28 count Brittney to stitch this but am really not enjoying it. Only 6.2% has been stitched so I've made the decision to restart it on 18 count Aida.

I am just starting HAED's Cabin in the Woods. Hopefully I will get the first stitches in tonight.

Update - At Last

I didn't mean to be away for so long but time just slipped away. It was time to move HandsOnHobbies onto the new server but to do so the shop had to be closed and completely set up from scratch with new software. My DH and I had two weeks to do the job, including a lot of new features and adding thousands of products with larger images! To check out the new (UK) site go to http://www.handsonhobbies.com.

The following are photos of my stitching progress since my last post.

Tomboy:

I have stitched 14 of 36 pages which is 42.3%

Diane Graebner's - Christmas Eve:

Stitched 16 blocks at top left approx. 6.4%

Solaria Gallery – Girl from Alhambra:

Stitched half of page one. I love stitching this design! Stitched approx. 16%

Celtic Winter:

Widened fur on hood, stitched muff and start of dress. Stitched approx. 55.2%

I have two others to sort out photos for and will show them later.

2007 Goals

I've realised that I haven't put my 2007 stitching goals into writing so better late than never:

1. I would like to start a rotation of at least 20 projects, most of them large including quite a few HAED. As of 1st January I only had 3 WIP projects, which means a lot of new starts.

2. Get HAED - Tomboy to the 50% mark. I started the year at 29.9% (around 9 and a half pages).

3. Finish more than 4 projects.

Progress as of 22 April 07:

1. I have started 12 of the 20 projects.

2. Tomboy is at the 37.3% mark (12 pages). I have 6 more pages to stitch this year to reach my target.

3. I have finished 1 project (Diane Graebner's - Home for the Holidays)

Week's Progress

The following photos show my stitching progress for the week. The first is Dimensions - Sleigh Ride:

It is 15.7% complete. I am doing the backstitch as I go so it isn't all left to the end.

The second photo is my progress on Celtic Winter:

It is 48.6% complete. I finished the cloak and face and just started the dress as originally charted (although I have changed the colours). So far the two halves are fitting together nicely. I was worried how the original charted half would fit together with the cloak. The cloak was designed by Nathalie for a mirror image of Celtic Spring. I am stitching it for the actual Celtic Winter.

I am starting back on HAED - Tomboy today and can't wait!

HAED progress

This week I have two Heaven and Earth Designs WIP's to show. The first is The Pink Rose:

I finished page 1. It is just background so not a very interesting picture to look at.

The second is Tomboy:

I finished page 13.

I had to re-do a patch of the wall in Tomboy, as I had used the wrong colour thread! It was tempting to leave it being just a patch in the wall which didn't stand out as being wrong. Every time I looked I knew it wasn't right and was going to bother me unless I corrected it. With it out the way I am pleased with my decision.

I am working on Sleigh Ride now, but I am not enjoying it. I would prefer to be stitching on a HAED. They are much larger but easier to stitch in my opinion. I am not sure if all Dimension charts are the same, but I have been put off in case they are. I like to cross stitch in two threads (or an even number at least), so a loop start can be used. I hate blending and with Sleigh Ride sometimes you have to use one of each or two, three or four strands, it just doesn't seem possible to get into a rhythm. As stitching is my hobby, something that should be enjoyable, I made the decision to put Sleigh Ride in to my random rotation rather than a focus project. It means I will still be stitching on it and hopefully one day will finish; but not quickly.

After a couple of days on Sleigh Ride I am moving onto Celtic Winter which is remaining as a focus project. I am hoping to finish the cloak this time around and start the part of the design that was originally charted. I just need to figure out how the two parts fit together!

First HD of 2007

This week I finished Diane Graebner's - Home for the Holidays. I enjoyed stitching this design; it grew quickly and didn't take much concentration. The windows in the house sparkle but it doesn't show in the photo.

Last night I worked on HAED's - The Pink Rose. I wish I had started this on her face so there was something to look at instead of just the background. From now on I am going to start all large charts on the main part of the picture and then fill in the background. I find I enjoy stitching more when there is something to see other than a blob of colour. Luckily at the bottom right corner of page two I will reach her hair (although I won't get that far this time round). I will continue on The Pink Rose for a few days and then go back to HAED's - Tomboy.

I have updated my rotation page on my site with my new plan. This now includes links to each project page where there is a picture of how it should look when complete. To see it click here: http://www.jthanson.co.uk/rotation.htm

I haven't decorated the house for Easter this year, unless you count dust bunnies!  I have got some daffodils, yellow cushion covers and yellow table cloth for Spring and they do brighten the house. I LOVE SPRING!

I hope everyone has a lovely Easter!

Another Week

HandsOnHobbies has been moved back to the old server and is open for business as usual. I am trying to find out why it isn't happy with the new server. It should be fine, all the software requirements are met and there are no obvious errors. I really hope it can be sorted out as I spent a lot of time this week looking into different software and nothing was suitable, without a load of re-writing that is.

Once HandsOnHobbies was back working I managed to get a newsletter out about the new Clear Magic Stamps. The new stamps are a huge hit. I thought they would be as there are some lovely designs.

I am really excited as I have designed some software and it is currently being developed. I am not sure when it will be ready but as soon as I have further details I will let you know.

This week I have stitched on only one design, Diane Graebner's - Home for the Holidays. It is lovely to stitch. It is a quick and easy design with no confetti stitches!!! I love the larger designs but it is nice to take a break once in awhile. I needed this project this week as it doesn't take much concentration and was easy to keep picking up and working on for the short spaces of time that were available to me. I was working all day and a lot through the evening, so it was lovely to see the picture developing so fast. This is where I am up to at present:

I have decided to stay with this project until completion, which hopefully will be this week. I am then moving onto HAED's - The Pink Rose.