Our Friends' HAED SAL: Finally getting my act together!

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Finally getting my act together!

I joined some time back but life was a little busy. Things are slowly getting back to normal so I'm hoping to get back into my HAED stitching!

A brief little intro - my name is Mel (short for Melissa), I'm an Australian living the expat life in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. I'm married to a wonderful man and we have two great kids (boy, almost 14, and girl, 11). We also have a rather pampered dog called Tikki.

I discovered HAED in 2005 and so started my addiction :)

I went through a bad case of startitis so have many WIPs but gradually managed to curb that urge enough to actually finish two - QS Snowflake and QS Girly Gothic.

At the moment I will be concentrating on my QS Plum Gothic (Vinson) WIP as she is the closest to being finished. This is my current progress.

QS Plum Gothic (c) Heaven & Earth Designs

I am stitching her on 27 count white Linda evenweave with DMC floss. There are no sparkles in this one.

5 comments:

Sabine S. said...: Oooh, she's pretty, the eyes, the lips, and the lovely shades of plum! Will you post pics of your finishes, just to prove to use newbies that it is possible? LOL!
Sabine; April 28, 2009 at 9:38 AM
Cindy F. said...: Welcome Mel!! Your QS is amazing!! Beautiful colors and awesome progress!! Can't wait to see more of her:) Thanks for sharing!!; April 28, 2009 at 10:36 AM
Annie Bee said...: Hi Mel. There is not a lot more stitching to be done on your Plum Gothic. She is looking great.; April 29, 2009 at 1:53 AM
Wendy said...: Welcome Mel to our blog! Your stitching looks so wonderful. Keep up the good work on it;); April 29, 2009 at 4:13 AM
Carolyn NC said...: Great progress!; April 29, 2009 at 6:49 PM

Tutorials

How to Carry Threads
This is really easy...it takes a while to get used to though....and your back will look terrible...this you will have to live with...One thing...You will be working your 10 x 10 grids in colums...it makes it easier...
1. Start with a 10 x 10 grid..
2. Find your first symbol...and stitch all of that symbol in your 10 x 10 grid....When finished...
3. Find the same symbol on the 10 x 10 grid below it...take your needle and bring your thread up like you are going to make the first 1/2 of the X ...but don't do it...just unthread your needle and lay the thread down..
4. Go back to the first grid you were working on...and stitch the next symbol the same way....when finished bring your thread down....
5. continue each symbol until your first 10 x 10 grid is finished....
6. start the next 10 x 10 grid ....you should have thread there already for you to pick up and stitch...
Posted by Vickie 3/7/2009

Tent Stitching (Wikipedia)
Tent stitch variants
There are three types of tent stitch, all producing the same appearance on the front of the canvas but each worked in a slightly different way and having particular characteristics, uses, benefits and drawbacks. These variants of tent stitch are known as basketweave, continental and half cross tent stitches:
Basketweave tent stitch - The basketweave form of tent stitch is worked in diagonal rows up and down the canvas. The yarn on the back of the canvas has a typical basketweave appearance, with alternating horizontal and vertical stitches. Basketweave is the best stitch to use for covering large areas of canvas as it does not distort the canvas as the other two forms of tent stitch do.
Continental tent stitch - Continental stitch is worked horizontally or vertically across the canvas. On the back of the work, the stitches appear diagonally across two threads. This method uses more yarn than half cross stitch tent stitch but is more hardwearing.
Half cross tent stitch - Half cross stitch is worked horizontally or vertically across the canvas. On the back of the work, the stitch appears vertical or horizontal, not diagonal, and crosses only one thread. This method uses less yarn than other stitches but is not very durable as coverage on the back of the canvas is a little thin.