Our Friends' HAED SAL: Mad Tea Party Update

Monday, November 15, 2010

Mad Tea Party Update - Mel "Romantic Fool"

I've been slowly working through my stitching goals for the year. Slowly being the key word. I think I've only accomplished a handful. The easy one (or maybe not so easy) was not to buy any new stash unless it was absolutely necessary to complete a current project! The second one was to complete one page of HAED's "Queen of Hearts" which I did earlier this month. Now I've been working on HAED's "Mad Tea Party".

This one is ultimately going to be for my niece. She is currently 9 years old. I might have it done by the time she turns 18! LOL! This one I decided to do a little differently than my other HAED's. I am doing this one 2 over 1. It definitely makes a difference in the appearance but at times makes it difficult to get the needle through the hole in the fabric. But over all I am pleased. Just makes it slow going.

I haven't finished one page yet but I am halfway done with the first page. Ok, maybe a little more than halfway done!

4 comments:

Marie said...: I love to see your work growing !
A Gustafson's design is always so magical...

Your niece is really lucky !!!

Keep up your wonderful work...; November 15, 2010 at 9:14 AM
EvalinaMaria said...: You are doing good!Watching your work makes my fingers itchy to work on my Egyptian Temple.; November 15, 2010 at 10:56 AM
Terri said...: Looks fantastic so far; November 17, 2010 at 9:51 AM
grannie said...: This is great! I love this one so look forward to seeing more :-); November 19, 2010 at 4:16 AM

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.