Busy, Busy, Busy

Before I type anything else, I want to say a very big thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my (very slow) blog, thank you so much! I have had some really lovely emails over the last few months, checking on my progress, offering advice and very kind comments on my drawings, you guys rock!

Since christmas I have been so busy with work, i've had little time to play and so no stitching or drawing was done. Until a couple of weeks ago, when I broke the pencils out and had a try at this handsome fella, he isnt perfect, but i'm pleased with how he turned out, my confidence was at a very low point and loosing myself with him for a couple of days was great therapy. I'm now working on an owl in graphite, plus trying to get my head around acrylics and colour for my course.

I also now have a few days off from work stitching to do my own stitching, Night Queen is back on the hoop! I'm about half way through the page, maybe a little more and am planning on really cracking on with her today and tomorrow to see how much I can get done, as long as I dont run out of threads I should be close to a page finish by the end of the week.............

I had such great plans to stitch on her in 2012, but its almost April and progress is so slow I'm determined April will not creep up on me before I finish this page.

I hope to be back very soon with a page finish and picture update :) Happy stitching xxx

Finally, A Page Finish!

I'm so sorry it is taking me so long to update this project, I really wish I had more time to spend on her. I'm going to try to give her a little more time this year, I started her in May 2010 and am quite sad that I have only finished 5 pages in all that time.

Before I waffle on anymore, here is todays picture, 5 pages finished:

I've popped my stork scissors on for a sense of scale :) This is now the top line of pages finished.

Page 5 of 25 done, now onto page 6.......

Here are some stats for those who are interested, so far I have stitched 34,300 stitches, only 116900 to go. At this rate it is going to take me at least 3 more years to complete urgh!

The stitching so far measures 37.5 inches across the top, by 10.5 inches. I've just purchased another 90 threads, this brings my thread total to a scary 210 DMC skeins -eek!

I am on holiday for another week, so I am going to crack on, I'd love to get close to another page finish, not sure thats possible, but one of my new years resolutions is to put more time into this project. Ideally getting her half finished by the end of 2012.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my blog, I hope to have another update for you alot sooner than last time!

Happy stitching s

Sharing a little secret

I have to confess there is another love in my life now, other than stitching and that is the love of drawing :)

I have a secret desire, a wish that I have held close to my heart for a few years, that is to be able to create a beautiful original artwork, which could possibly one day be turned into a HAED type stitching.

It is a big dream I know, but you've got to have a dream, right? I never thought it would be possible, and figured it would always be just a dream. But then, after a bit of a fed up moment, I started trying to draw, using some online tutorials, with a little success, so I then brought a book or two, some artists pencils and a few sketch pads, and by this point I was totally hooked.

Encouraged by my family and friends I signed up to the London Art College online and began their Drawing and Painting Diploma course.

Its been a difficult thing, and a huge learning curve, handing in assignments and being marked, laying bear my inner artist, but they have really helped me, my confidence has grown as my skills mature, I still have an awfully long way to go, but i'm loving the ride!

Here is a picture i have just finished of two sweet welsh ponies, its not perfect, but I love it

I know that my dream is still very far away, but today I feel one step closer :)

I have had to make the decision to say good bye to stitching for CrossStitcher magazine, I need to be able to devote at least an hour every day to practice my drawing, which was impossible before, I am now stitching just for Origin magazines and will be trying not to take on as many projects as I have been doing.

I hope my fellow stitches do not mind me sharing a picture which isnt stitched, I hope that one day I will be able to share one of my original pieces which is stitched

Thank you for reading!

Page 4 finished! Woop

Woohhoo, page 4 finally finished:

One of the biggest headaches (or should that be shoulder aches) with this weight and size of fabric is lifting the frame up and down to start and finish each thread. I use a floor stand with either a large hoop or a 12 inch square q-snap frame, and flipping the work all the time was taking its toll on the fabric, the frame/stand and my poor shoulder, this huge piece of fabric is really heavy!

I started to experiment, leaving the tails on the top of the fabric, some distance away from the section I was stitching, so that the tail would be worked over on the back of the fabric as I stitched, then when I got to the tail, I could just snip it off.

Its been a bit trial and error, but I think I have finally figured out a way which works for me, from now on, I will start each page from the top, working in rows of 10. I will start and finish the thread a full 10 rows below where I am stitching, this should make it easy to see where the tails finish and give me a clear working area.

It does use a bit more thread than usual, but i'm stitching much faster and enjoying it more. When I work on the next page I will take a couple of photos to help explain it better.

Now, I need to take a break for a few days as I have more work in, plus some drawing assignments to complete, but I will be back to it soon. Page 5 is a part page and only 3822 stitches, so i'm hoping it wont be too long before I can post my next page finish

Shhhhhhh dont disturb......I'm stitching!

This is the sign I need to tape to my head, so everyone leaves me to stitch lol

First off, apologies, I had great plans to get so much done over August, but the magazines had other ideas, so some manic stitching created works for Cross Stitcher, World of Cross Stitching and Crazy, leaving me with little time to do anything other than daydream of working on my HAED.

Now, I am officially on holiday!!! Yay! I spent the first couple of days catching up on course work assignments for my art diploma and a bit of knitting, but I am ready to pick up Night Queen and work to finish this page.

Quick calculations- page 4, I have 4998 stitches left, I will try to work 1000 today, then the same for the next 4 days and I should have the page finished before my next commission comes in next week.

Here are a couple of pictures of commissions which have been recently published

Page 3 Finished! (Finally)!

Wow, this page has taken me forever! But its finally finished -yay! I know its only a page finish and not the whole thing, but its going to take me such a long time that I really need to celebrate the little things.

At this rate I will probably be 50 before it is finished, but I will keep going, even if its just a dozen stitches at a time.

It looks as though I have at least another day without work, so I am going to strike whilst the iron is hot and get straight onto page 4, I might even have another page finish before the end of the summer???

Thank you for sticking with me, I hope you enjoy the pictures, I have added the next A4 page of chart to show scale, as you can see its pretty much the same size as the chart

July 26th 2011

Almost at my page finish, I hope! Just 2100 stitches to go.

I havent been able to do much these last couple of weeks as I had two commissions, one for CrossStitcher which I finished Friday and another for Gold, which I have just finished, phew! Thankfully, at least for a day or two I have no other projects pending, so the plan is to catch up with the housework I have ignored whilst working, then get these last stitches done on Page 3, I feel like I have been working this page forever.

I have just been playing with the numbers a bit, I placed another order for threads today, this brings my threads purchased for this project to 120-ouch!

The total number of stitches on this project is a whopping 151,200 stitches, so far I have stitched approx 17,752, just 11.7% So only a teeny 133448 stitches to go........................

I can usually get 1000 stitches done on a good day, so I hope to be back with you by Friday with a page finish (finally) thank you for sticking with me through my slow times, I hope it will be worth the wait.