Cross-stitch cafe 2010

Keiss_21

poppett wrote: »

Hi Misty, yes I'm stitching 1 over 1. When I first started it I had to google it and make sure I was doing it right as any evenweave I've worked on before was always over 2. I couldn't believe how tiny the stitches were. Lat week I had to put the finishing touches to my granddaughters birth sampler and going back to aida and full size stitches felt so strange.:D Has for the unpicking bit, I have found if I work in 10x10 blocks there isn't really any concern for major c**k ups! I have done this much without any unpicking, touch wood it satys that way. I know a lot of people grid their work but I was too eager to get started.
Which design are you hoping to start?
Whoops forgot to say...I'm doing full stitches.

Hya Poppett - I am doing my H&E Astronomer on 28 count evenweave and stitching over 2 threads....this was on Mrs M's and Louise's (she uses 14 count Aida) recommendation. Glad I did...I have glasses, a magnifying glass and also use a daylight bulb, which make sewing just about do-able. No way could I have coped with the 25 count!! This does mean that the finished work is bigger....not that I mind!

Good luck with the 25 count!

shelly

Just a quick post from me today....
Everyone's progress is looking great! Keep up the good work ladies.
Hope everyone who is unwell gets well again soon.

I am doing a weekly update for this Fairy because I think I am going to get this one done much quicker than the other one.

Here's progress after 1 week....



Do you see the few spaces on the wing for a few stitches? I am supposed to put in french knots which I am usually not too bad at doing but when I tried to do them I just couldn't get them right!
I have thought about using beads instead but then I won't be able to use glass in the frames.
Apart from having another go at the french knots does anyone have any other ideas?

Simac

Louiseey wrote: »

Hi everyone,
I'd love to join this challenge, I love doing cross stitch. Last year I completed a colourful row of fairies (which my mum promptly framed and hung up in my room) and this Christmas just gone I was giving a 'Nightmare before Christmas' cross stitch (its my favourite film) which has lots of dark colours so it should be a challenge! I'm going to say I'm hoping to finish it before Christmas because with Uni work, I don't have a lot of spare time on my hands, and it usually takes me about a year to finish my cross stitches anyway hehe!
I'll get some photographs up of it so far this evening,
Louise x

Hi Louiseey,

Yeah, I'm so excited to see someone else doing a Nightmare before Christmas pic. I was starting to think I was weird LOL!!! I can't wait to see your piccies. My next project is Jack and Sally, I'm itching to start it but I'm determined to finish these polar bears first.

Challenge has most definitely given me a kick up the bum, I've done more sewing this Easter weekend than I think I'd managed all year so far. I WILL FINISH BY THE END OF APRIL :rotfl:

Louise, glad you noticed and managed to unpick in time. The air would most definitely have been blue in my house, there is nothing worse than unpicking all your hard work.

Everyone's work is looking amazing, I can't believe how fast you all sew. I'm lucky to get an hour a day in (and most of the time I don't even get that!). There should definitely be more bank holidays in a year. I need them to catch up with you all LOL.

Mountain_Ash

Evening folks,

Hope you all had a happy Easter, despite upset tummies and poorly little ones.

Bubbles - please can you put me on your April Challenge list?

I want to finish my Pheasant from Cross Stitch Gold by the end of the month. I need to finish the border and then complete the backstitch on the pheasant himself. I started him on 6 May last year, but due to illness and working on other projects with deadlines (b'days, Xmas etc), he has missed out. However, I would like to finish him in less than a year.

He currently looks like this:

Sorry if he is too big. I'll post an update next Monday so you can see how far I've got.

All the best for the post Easter wind down and big hugs to all who need them.

Ro

craftygranny

oooh lots of good progress made girls. I love seeing the pictures.

Dorastar

I really do hate backstitch and metallic threads grrrr. Have done nearly all of fairies apart from a few wings, backstitching the wings and one fairy seems to have lost her eyes!!!! (another person who can only do french knots occasionally!)

Just got to do two big toadstools, a butterfly and loads of grass and flowers but running out of holiday fast and boss won't be impressed if I don't do any planning this week.

maria_and_the_imps

shelly my flower fairies had loads of french knots and im usless at them so i just put a stitch in in whichever colour the french knot was supposed to be and it looks fine nobody knows any different lol, you have done so much for 1 week are you enjoying doing this one?
mountain ash that pheasent is lovely how big is he?
dora i love back stitch i know most of you dont! but i leave it all till the very end, i think it just brings the picture alive.
finished LiBRA since i put the kids to bed and only 3 more to go and the back stitching and im done wahoo
off to bed now night all
last one out turn off the light, first one up put the kettle on lol
xxxx

Lelc

I looked in this morning to see how everyone is doing - I just love the updates. I don't post that often but I do look in everyday. I haven't done that much on my God of Wealth this week despite being off all week but I have caught up on housework.

When I read through the posts this morning I spotted the challenge. I love a challenge and thought that I could complete my underwater world by the end of April - so I picked it up to carry on with it. However something didn't seem right and eventually I realised that I've not started in the middle for some bizarre reason and instead started too far over to the left. This means I'm going to run out of cloth. I don't know how I didn't spot this before and I'm really annoyed with myself because I've completed about 3/4 of it. The only thing I can think of doing is trying to cut the design short to fit onto the cloth but this is going to take some thinking about as I'm not sure I want half of a fish at the edge of the picture - iyswim! Has anyone any ideas?

Anyway I've decided to finish one of my other UFO's the Taj Mahal picture which is on black aida (now that I have a laplight). I'd done about half of it before I put it away so should be able to finish by the end of April - but I'm a very slow stitcher.

Good luck everyone.

Emzy81

Dora and Shelly I have never once successfully managed a french knot, bloody evil things invented to annoy people :mad:
Mountainash That looks lovely

Im a bit stressed tonight, im not enjoying doing this pattern atall and im really annoyed with myself, I was so excited and love the pattern so much but Im just not enjoying it at the moment, I don't think I realised how long it would take either to be honest. It probably wasn't a good idea to not cross stitching for years and then jumping in with this one or any HAED I guess. And now I can't just give up on it or ill feel like ive failed.

to all you ladies doing these HAED's well done im even more impressed with you now than i was before

poppett

Emzy, don't fret. Put it down for tonight and walk away from it. Even if it takes a day or two you will go back to it. I have mine on a floor standing frame and it's left in the living room, so even if I have a "can't be bothered to stitch today" day it is there staring at me and I soon feel the urge to pick up the needle again.

We are here to keep you motivated.