HAED Plans

 Currently I am working on "Winter Wings ' by Nene Thomas - an old retired chart so it's an "old school " wip with a paper chart and self gridded fabric 

Those colors! That owl! I love working on this one and it has the most progress of all my full coverage wips. And with the new magnifying light I'm really enjoying it again. 

Which led to an overall sorting of the other HAEDs and plans for some future starts thereof.

Plan #1. Getting pre gridded fabric. I have several "bucket list" patterns that I want to start, and several of these are by Josephine Wall- so that's a riot of color and confetti stitching. I think using the pre gridded fabric for those types is a must. So I ordered a yard and it should be here after Xmas. 

Plan #2. I now have all my HAED pdfs loaded into Pattern Keeper and ready to go. As for the retired paper charts it's impossible to get them as a PDF so I'm not going to worry about it, nor am I going to replace all my paper charts with digital and buy the same patterns twice. 

Though I admit that I have done so for several Josephine Wall and a couple Laurie Prindle- I figure that they'll be easier using Pattern Keeper. 

Plan #3. "Old school " HAED projects. They need some attention! And waited long enough really. It would be nice to get some of these old beauties started.

Plan #4. I ve long been searching/ collecting charts that actually look like my horses. It'd be awesome to get these going and have a sort of "stable" of horse projects 

Plan #5. Managing "Max Color" projects. Several of my patterns are this, and I hear the detail and shading is incredible. But managing 250 colors, (average) is going to take some thinking.  Right now my HAEDs floss just lives in a big zip lock bag for each project. I really don't wanna bobbin. But at the same time would like there to be some sort of easy access instead of searching through a pile of thread. I dunno- I'll have to see how other people wrangle such an amount of thread colors.

The other thing too, is since several of the Max Colors are Jo Wall projects- couldn't they just share and replace skeins as needed. I don't think any would have giant blocks of color where dyelots would be a big issue.  So I might just try that for them. It would be nice to have them all be sort of thier own special collection and stored together. We'll see, some of the patterns/ colors are very obviously seasonal, but here is where it'd be helpful to see what others have done. 

Plan #6. Actually this involves all my stitching, and that is finding a fun and motivated way to prompt more progress. I have the old LOTR "Stitch to Mordor" plan printed out, and theres a bunch of Facebook groups themed around fun stitching prompts. The trouble is that my stitching is sporadic throughout the year depending on what farming schedules are. The other factor is the Facebook groups tend to have alot of complicated steps to participate. I loved the Harry Potter themed one from a few years back, wish I had printed out the prompts for it to just do my own thing; but drama crept in the group and that got all scrambled, and in the end I couldn't keep up or do "points" and keep up with the team I was assigned to. I've since found a Disney themed prompt group and it looks fun but in January they switch to a different theme that I'm not into and would not be familiar with the prompts they'd have. So there's that. I wish there would be a Harry Potter, Jane Austen, or fairy tales type of prompt group, and perhaps there is and I just don't know about it. Which honestly wouldn't surprise me cuz so often I'm out of the loop anymore.  But if I can't find one, I'll just do the LOTR one on my own. Though naturally it's more fun and motivation in a group. 

A HAED update

 This past year I have been thinking more about my HAED projects- both started and waiting-to-be, and getting frustrated with the current state of them. 

What was frustrating was magnifying lights that were cheap from wallyworld and such. These proved to be nothing but a waste of money because they would work alright but then not. The first was a Dritz that had a cord for going around your neck. It worked great for years, and I am always careful to take batteries out if not using something for awhile. But I went to use this one day and the plastic was so sticky and gross, I couldn't wipe or scrape the gross off cuz it kept coming and getting on everything near the light itself. But it still worked. Perhaps the plastic or rubber was breaking down or something- but I didn't want that residue getting on a WIP so in the end I tossed it and got a new one. Same exact thing. That one lasted 2 sessions and the wiring went bad. It blinks rapidly and then goes out. The magnifying lense works but there's no light with it anymore. 

I'm not buying any more of those. 

I had Jerry rigged a makeshift magnifying light with it and a neck light but that was awkward and honestly just a pita. It was time to find a good gadget to solve the problem once and for all.  And it turned out to be this. 

What a game changer. 

The other 2 things that are going to be implemented for HAEDs is Pattern Keeper, and gridded fabric. I hear both those things are life changing when it comes to these full coverage projects and I can't wait to try them out. 

Though I have used Pattern Keeper a bit and really liked it, the gridded fabric will save so much time and the new magnifying light will make working on them a joy.

I still plan to keep my "old school " wips on non gridded fabric, and paper charts only, going because they're fine. Having a proper magnifying light will make a huge difference for thier progress. 

I ordered new disappearing ink sewing pens for gridding my own fabric so I'm ready for some serious progress now. 

Back to stitching...

 2025 is fast approaching, and I'm looking forward to quiet winter days with projects. It has been a bit of a struggle to carve out time and priorities for stitching. But I took a hard look at what my time wasters were- facebook being a big one, and decided that since I don't have anything to show for time wasters it would be best to limit them more. And since doing that I found a bit more peace and a better feeling about my time. 

The horses are/were taking up the time I was wasting and that has brought so much joy. 

Now I have to train myself to put the phone down in the evenings and pick up a needle or a paintbrush! 

And that tends to be more of a struggle cuz there's a  million things needing attention or doing and my mind just can't seem to relax and settle in to a project. But there's long winter evenings coming and I'm gonna challenge myself for serious progress and keeping motivated. 

A journey ever winding....

 I suppose that would be the case here. There has been so much happening, both in stitching and real life responsibilities, that it would take pages to describe. And frankly I just don't have the luxury of time or the energy to do it. Blogging rather fell to the wayside even more so than hobbies, so I haven't been keeping track of anything here.  But just the same, here are some highlights...

I no longer use Etsy for my patterns, I guess that's a big change. I do not agree with thier policies or some of thier practices /partnerships so that is that.  

   At some point I will be offering my patterns again, but it's something that needs full on concentration,  and currently real life is flexing its hold on me. 

 I do however, get a few minutes here and there throughout my day, and when 2024 began I actually made a resolution that STITCHING be a priority this year. 

With that in mind, I got to work and made some goals for myself. 

One of the first things I did was actually stitching. And I chose my 3rd oldest WIP, Midsummer Night Fairy by Mirabilia. She had very little left to do and so I spent New Year's with a renewed sense of determination. She was finished later that month and will get her own post. But resurrecting an old wip and finishing it was a goal accomplished. The next few goals however, are vastly different 😅

My next goal then, was to organize all my Chatelaine patterns and materials. I've collected the patterns for years, and a smattering of materials for them, but it struck me that some of these have been with me 20 years and still haven't been kitted, started, or done much but have thier cover photos be admired and a few threads in baggies.  

 So then, I organized everything I had to do with Chatelaines; thier charts, materials I had and materials that I still needed for them. I was pleasantly surprised that several were in fact close to "start -able " and these are moving up the que for this year. Fairy Garden Mandela being one, but that shall have its own post as well. 

  I then took my oldest Chatelaine, Persian Iris Garden, and put it on the scroll bars for some progress,  and that shall get its own post too. 

(This post seems to be serving as a sort of checklist for me 😅)

  The next endeavor was to get Pattern Keeper installed on an old kindle and load up what Full Coverage patterns I could onto it. The majority of my Full Coverage patterns are older paper ones, but after hearing about how great Pattern Keeper is, and the recommendations of several friends, I am convinced that it will help. And lol, my old kindle now has a bunch of Heaven and Earth Designs pdf charts in for just such an experiment, that I'm quite looking forward to.  What took a bit longer was recording my progress already done for the projects.

And I still need to figure out all the features of this Pattern Keeper, but it'd be nice to figure out how to load in my older charts, and the Mystic Stitch ones, and other various designers of Full coverage designs. 

 So it is only February and 3 major goals have been tackled already. 

 Goals that remain are rather simple: 

1. Chatelaines are the priority this year, to kit up, and get started. The Gloriana situation being what it is, I will simply look for a substitute if it can be done. Waterlillies, Thread Gatherer, and whatever else come in a wide range of colors so I'm sure there's something close. I'm also going to rely on my old method of getting materials to get the project started and kit as i go. 

2.  Ann Medd Sampler

This huge sampler is already started and has progress. I love working on this one, and she has permanent residence on my floor stand until completion. The lighting situation where that floor stand is currently, needs improvement. The goal for this one is progress. She tends to be a "summer project" just due to her position as furniture lol, and not being portable.

3. The Hannah Alexander Mucha Disney Princesses 

These too are a joy for me, and huge projects. What I'd like to do is complete my collection of these charts and continue progress on the ones started. I'm only missing a few of the Disney Princesses in the series. And I think there was a Sailor Moon series in the works last I checked...

Miscellaneous: 

In this category are "Consider the Lillies" sampler, "Seven Sheep Sampler" and various other ones that I'd like to see progress on.

March Lavender and Lace Celtic Ladies:

As per my custom, I will be devoting a priority to get progress on these during the month of March 

A New Release...

So much has been going on this past year, and already in 2018! But for simplicity's sake, let's start with the present, and the past can be talked more of in another post.
What is currently in the works, is this fun little witch, now available at my shop, EyeoftheMagpieByKate on Etsy.

 So naturally what follows is stitching the model of this design, and Brunhilda was started on January 15, 2018. And here is her fabric/threads preview...

And what she currently looks l like now...

And now that it's Hermit weekend, hopefully that means some major progress. I'm so ready for Hermitting! So... I will check back with an update on how she grows, but thank you for joining me on the journey with her ☺

At Long Last...

.... and so many of you have been so patient for this conversion. I wish to thank you all for your continued encouragement, and Marilyn for her brilliant job designing her LL Celtic Ladies. The following info is 3 main sections. First is the Conversion of the Colors Used to create the "Arwen" -inspired project, it is broken down into sections of her outfit, as you will see. You will need the original chart of "Celtic Summer" to complete this project. And of course, you may use these pictures here in this post.

Next is the design Modification, or the Conversion of her dress to look more authentic to Arwen's Coronation Gown;  and the Crown she wears.

Last but not least, this page of Info goes along with the Sleeve and Crown. Be sure to read all directions carefully, and I look forward to seeing more of these beauties in the stitchy world

January 2017

So January, the month of Resolutions (Lol I dont have any!) Organization, and Plans... So with 2 out of 3, let's start with the Organization idea....
 My biggest issue with my stitching is that, with so limited a time to work on it per day -if any- it HAS to be organized and easy access. Now add in a very mischievious young cat with lol, no brains, memory or sense of boundaries, well it also has to be packed away at the end of every work session or risk being destroyed. So Im ever on the hunt for a good way to store wips on qsnaps so I can just grab and go, and the materials just live in a bag for whichever project. The trouble Ive run into is more and more of my wips are growing into bigger qsnaps, and a storage solution for that (that wont take over the whole bedroom) is where Im at now. So hmmmm. Perhaps another "under the bed'' plastic tote, but the one I currently have takes up so much room I cant fit 2 there, but if I could find something of that sort it'd work. But I havent yet. And I must. Soon. So that's at the forefront of my January to-do list. What HAS been accomplished in the name of organization is getting some patterns organized- namely the Hannah Alexander Mucha Disney Princess charts, and the freebie SALs from Snowflower Diaries and the Brooke's Books Advent animals. Now that they are all organized and have binders to live in it's much easier to plan out and work on these, which brings me to the Plans stage :) .
Ah Plans.....
That magical little word that holds such promise, plans are always great to have, and mine seem to have the added glamour of always changing due to the "whatevers" that pop up. For that reason I dont usually make long term plans regarding what I'll start (or even, gasp! finish) so usually if I can think a month ahead Im doing great. But what has been on my mind these last few months is I would like to get some things going in 2017. Aside from the demands of the Etsy store I would like to take on 2 specific stitching goals. One is to start doing some xmas type projects, such as ornaments in particular, and use some of the bazillion patterns in the stash for said items, or the samplers and scenes therin also. The other is those Mucha Disney Princesses...

They have long been my collecting goal, and there are only 3 remaining to be charted. I do hope though, that Pinky will chart up other works of Hannah's, because they truly are gorgeous. But if not then so be it, at least I found Disney Princesses in a style that appeals enough that I'd stitch it. That said, I only have Merida started, Esmeralda, and now Ariel and Elsa, are waiting to be started; with Tiana, Kida and Anna the next to collect thier floss. My goal for 2017 is to get the complete set, and thier materials rounded up. Beads, I might go a different route than Mill Hill and get hanks or kilos if that is cheaper (no doubtedly so!)
I plan to keep the tradition of Guilt Free January going, so some of these may see a start in the next couple weeks.
Beyond these two ideas I have not made any other goals or plans for the stitching, it's very much as it happens in my spare time. That said, January has seen some great progress on 3 wips and 1 new start.
  First wip was my Ireland conversion of LLCeltic Autumn.

This was the project for the last week of Dec, and saw the most time on New Year's Eve, New Year's Day morning, which is why I include it here. Already I am glad that I did not jump the gun and release the Horse chart yet. As you can see, my original horse design didnt "fit" with the Celtic Lady, and I had to change the leg accordingly so this horse doesnt look like a giraffe! So it is, the odd perspective of the Celtic Ladies having very short torsos and super long skirts was a challenge to adapt my horse to not look stupid standing next to them, and normal horse conformation had to be re-thought on how it could even work. Simply put, it is much easier to just design a stand -alone thing than it is to mesh things together, but this is where Ireland's horse lives lol, so he'd better look alright ;). Now I just have to fix and frog the leg to look right.

  The 2nd Wip

was Victoria's Sampler's "Gingerbread House" that had a bit of progress and the discovery that I miscounted somewhere, Ugh, no suprise being it was started in Dec when the holiday madness was rampant lol. So it waits to be fixed now. It's stitched on the recommended fabric with DMC instead of silk and I love how it looks so far. Or rather once it's fixed ;).
  The 3rd Wip was Mirabilia's My Lady's Garden. I love this project but had a hard time getting into it this round. I usually work on it when I miss my sister (cuz it's for her when finished) so it saw some progress on Xmas and the day after.

  And the new Start was done on New Years Day, and it is Mirabilia's "Gypsy Queen", on a 28 count linen that I dyed myself with a random mix of all the dyes I had. So it's very "carnival" I think. She has had a modification, and back when I started her in May '16 (but was scrapped due to wrong color fabric) I had decided that she, and several others were going to be a makeshift "set" that I would do, and display together. So GQ is a musician now and has a tambourine. Im still searching for the perfect bling to make it authentic, but it seems what I had in mind isnt in style for jewelry parts anymore, and so I need to hunt or adapt something more easily obtained. But here is what is happening so far with her, and I love working on her.

  So January has been off to a great start in stitchy adventures... and I must needs embark on another.... :)  Thanks for stopping by!