I think I am addicted to HAED charts (that’s Heaven and Earth Designs). That’s not the confession though. The secret is that I keep buying them and have never even stitched a single one. I was so inspired by Nicki‘s beautiful stitching on Earth, that I bought all four of the elements. I started stitching on Water. I put in about 20 or so stitches and then decided it looked like crap. So, that was the end of that. Now, I have done over one stitching (evidenced) by my Booberry Lane piece referenced in a previous post. (And that was done on 32 ct. linen.) I think I may be intimidated by the charts, possibly. And yet, I keep buying them. Like I said, I have the four elements charts from Sara Butcher, I also have her Magic Witch ACEO, I have a couple of Selina Fenech designs including Dark Waters, Atlantis, etc. But for whatever reason, I just don’t stitch them. Well, in an effort to break myself of this habit, I have purchased special fabric just for my Water ACEO and I intend to give Nicki’s parking thread process a go. The fabric I bought for it is Silkweaver’s Iris Garden, which I think you can agree, is gorgeous.
So, I am going to give this one a try again (once I move a little farther ahead on some of my current WIPs). If a mermaid can’t get me over my fear of HAED charts, what can?! (Yes, I LOVE mermaids, in case you didn’t know!) So, the challenge has been given, what can I do but stitch it. On another stash acquisition note, I received my Silkweaver Fabric of the Month yesterday. I received another two gorgeous fabrics – Fern and Cameo. The Fern is soooo pretty. It is lighter than you see here in the pic and more mottled. The Cameo is exactly the color of a cameo – and will be fantastic for so many things. So, far I am loving the FOTM thing!
And finally, I also received (finally) my chart for La Marquoir de Justine. I saw this stitched up by someone over on the Legacy BB and fell in love with it. Unfortunately it took almost two months and having to file a complaint with Paypal to finally get the shop I purchased it from to ship it to me. They claimed they had misplaced my receipt; however, I can’t imagine that they misplaced the numerous emails I sent them inquiring about my order to which they never responded. But, anyway. I am thankful to have the chart and will not have to deal with that store again.
And, by the way – the cake was wonderful! Eric said it was pretty close to the cake he remembers, so that is a big compliment. I learned some things in making it this time, so I think I may make a few modifications next time. But, it was (and still is) great. So, I am off to have a piece of cake, watch Mutiny on the Bounty and stitch! Hope you’re all having a great weekend.
I am grateful for carrying myself with confidence and grace.
Oh dear! What have I done!? 🙂
What count fabric did you get? If your stitches looked lumpy you probably needed to drop down to a lower count. It’s trying to squeeze in all those colours that does it. The first HAED I tried looked awful too. It was OK for a bit then just got lumpy and messy as I added more colours. It got scrapped, I changed fabric counts and tried parking, and hey presto!
Anyway, that fabric is such a lovely colour – hope it works 🙂
Oh, how wonderful! I love the fabrics and have been considering an HAED Scott Gustafson design (Jack n’ the Beanstalk or one of his others). I studied Nicki’s notes about parking and am not sure I understand, so I need to read them again. I think I’ll take the plunge though–your doing so makes me braver about it!
Love your fabby choice, Michelle! I think it was Nicki that enabled me too, she has a lot to answer for!!
Haha, I think I feel the same as you about HAED charts. 🙂 Have you ever tried Quaker Cloth Linen for over-1 stitching? It is by far the BEST fabric I’ve ever come across for it.
UGH, I’m sorry about the hassles you’ve had getting your “La Marquoir de Justine” chart. I’m going through the exact same problem at the moment with the same chart… so I have no doubt it’s the same shop. I filed a claim with PayPal today, as you only have 45 days… it’s been 35 days now since I made the payment. It sucks you have to go through all this aggravation though, doesn’t it? If she is having problems fulfiling too many orders fair enough, but she should not be taking payment until she’s ready to ship them, IMHO. And it takes all but a minute to answer a concerned e-mail too. >:(
Oooohhh, look at all that wonderful stash. Good luck with your new HAED. I have one, but am a bit hesitant to start it. They do seem overwhelming, but Nicki and Cathy make it look so easy. Maybe one of these days:)
Hope you have fun with your cake and movie!
ooh lovely fabrics Michelle, you tempter you, I haven’t been to the Silkweaver site for a long time as I’m trying to resist but now I might just have too, lol.
the sampler is beautiful, I hadn’t seen this one before.
enjoy your week.
I like HAED designs, too, but haven’t had to courage to buy one yet. I think I’ll start small. LOL. I’m having trouble with an eBay seller, too. I had to file a claim and I don’t think I’ll ever see the item or my money. Oh well!
What a nice stash haul! Have you tried stitching a HAED on 25ct maybe it would look better?