Craft · Cross stitch · SAL

SAL Update No 9

mymakingdoadventure

Hello stitchers!

So I’m very sorry to report a pitiful amount of progress AGAIN this time.

Here’s where I was last time..

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And here is where I am now.

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I’ve been working (if you can call it that!) on the stars and plus sign. They still haven’t been finished.

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They are looking a lot fuller, but still a while away from being complete. On I plod.

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I do have some interesting things to show you however!

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It’s my stand!

This is the stand that I mentioned I received for my birthday. Doesn’t it look complicated! The lamp was also a present from Himself after he was bought one for his birthday and I made lots of oohs and ahs and mutterings about borrowing it. I’m not sure it’ll stay on there though. It’s very bright, sunglasses bright. I may need to give it a bit of a distance before I cause my eyes some damage. It will be brilliant for photographing in the winter however.

I’ve already found that the stand makes it heaps easier for taking pictures. Apart from, of course, when a kitten wants to get in on the action.

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He’s taken quite a liking to it and we’ve had tiring battles over whether he’ll settle down or not. Mostly not.

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Many of you will know that I’ve been thinking of getting a stand for a long while. My old frame was so cumbersome. I’m sorry to say it hasn’t all been plain sailing with this one either. It’s taking some time to get used to it. My old frame was too big to fit on the stand so I bought a slightly smaller one. No bad thing. When I started Big G I got the biggest I could find. Now I’m concentrating on small bits less unwieldy is better.

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I thought I’d take a picture of the whole work while it was off the frame just so you could see sizing. The bottom bit of stitching is the middle, so you can see how big she’ll be eventually.

Anyway, it’s not all as easy as I thought it would be. I need some more practice. It’ll be brilliant when I’m working on huge areas of background, but while it’s all confetti stitches it’s taking a long time to bind off, cut, then start a new section somewhere else. I’m having to do some weird matrix style moves currently. Maybe I’m missing something? Anyway, any handy tips would be gratefully received!

But enough about me! Go have a look at the other projects on the go. We all have different projects and different speeds which keeps it wonderfully varied and exciting. Go on, you know you want to.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina,

Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Linda, Catherine, Wendy, Mary Margaret, Timothy

We post every 3 months, so I’ll see you on 16th July where, hopefully, I’ll have finished my star!

 

Much love xx

35 thoughts on “SAL Update No 9”

  1. don’t apologise! you’ve made progress and you’re getting used to working on a new frame. So well done on the first and congrats on the second lol.

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  2. New toys are always fun and take a bit of getting used to! Thanks for showing the size of this piece – wow! It is huge! I can’t offer any advice I’m afraid, it has been a long time since I stitched a cross stitch, and never anything of this magnitude!

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  3. Having good equipment helps to make the task easier, especially good light. I can’t live without my magnifying daylight light when I’m tired or the work’s very fine.

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  4. All stitches are progress. I call them stitches I don’t have to do later. This will be gorgeous when done. Keep on stitching. Stands are good but sometimes can get in the way. You need to find your rhythm and then you will wonder how you ever stitched without it.

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  6. Your stand looks great. I use a very lightweight frame without a stand and balance it over one arm of the sofa. We all have our different ways don’t we? Maybe you’d feel you were making more progress if you switch to completely finishing a square of say 3 x 3 inches of the chart at a time. Making great progress anyway.

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    1. Yea I was doing that. Well usually a knee and wedging it in to the sofa gap. I’d have an even smaller frame if I could, but I struggled to get all the folded fabric onto this one. That might be a good idea. I’ve seen people leave they’re unfinished threads while they move on to another section? Is this easier?

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      1. Not for me. I like to finish off threads as I go or I’d get in a tangle. However, I do use lots of ready threaded up needles with all the colours in the kit and just keep them in a pincushion to one side. Then they are ready to use. If I use all the thread up in a needle, I thread it back up straight away so it’s ready to use next time. That way, if you drop a needle it’s always easy to find because it has thread in it. I hope this helps. I do hope you have success.

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      2. See I think I’d be the same way. It’s complicated enough. I like the needle idea though. Could get around my one single stitch for pages issue.

        Carole also said about leaving all the finishing off at the end so not having to turn it all the time. I think between the two of you you might have given me some inspiration!

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  7. Nice frame & lamp, I only use a frame for embroidery (not cross stitch on Aida), my floor frame is not ‘man enough ‘ for runs beech slate frame, it has its own pair of adjustable TV tables.

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  8. Well, it *looks* like it ought to make things a bit easier! I hope you can figure out how to make it work best for you – and the kitten – so you can enjoy your stitching more. Quite a nice pair of gifts, the stand and the light!

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    1. Oh it definitely will. It’s already faster at the stitching side, just not the making things secure side. It’s not the stands fault, it’s me missing something or Big G for being a fiddly mistress. The kitten will always be trouble, but he’s a sensitive sort so I can forgive him 🙂

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  9. Any progress is progress and I think that the bigger the project, the less it looks like you’ve done in comparison. It’ll get there. The main thing is to enjoy it.
    One thing I do to speed up a bit when doing confetti, is to pop the finished threads off to one side, and then turn the work over before I pack up for that stitching session and finish them all off then. It’s quicker to do them all at once than to be constantly turning the work over to do one at a time.

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    1. I like this idea! Avis also suggested using lots of needles so this might work! It’s the turning that’s taking all the time at the moment. I feel like I immediately need to go home and try this!

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  10. Hope your stand works out for you! I have my eye on a floor stand frame for my large project.
    As for stitching, I like to work on a continuous blocks, one color at a time. Stitch until you run out of that color on your needle and grab the next color, staying in the same section. Instead of continuing a different section with the same color. Not sure that makes sense, what’s your current process?

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    1. I’ll get the hang of it. I’ve been give lots of good ideas which I cant wait to try!

      I think I do something similar I believe. I tend to work on one thread of a colour of the section I’m working on. I’ll keep the colour on the needle until I’ve used it all. This is where I have problems most of the time as I’ll need to fasten off and move to a different section to finish the colour. Very happy that I’ve been given some new ideas though. Always room for improvement!

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      1. Yes you explained it better, lol! But instead of moving on to a different section to finish the color, pick the next color from the first section. Looking forward to seeing what you discover works best 😊

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