APRIL Stitch-a-Long - Samplers

[blackmageheart]

Very nice katdun!

[icedragonj]

Ok! so apart from 2 stitches on yoshi that I managed to miss, the white stitches, the words and the border, I have completed 4 bands in less than a week! Can I finish on time? I doubt it, but you can't say I didn't try

[RMDC]

katdun, way to kick it up a notch! I kinda assumed it was called "hardanger" as portmanteau of the level of difficulty and the emotion you would feel upon the attempt.

[Eliste]

I haven't gotten it framed just yet, but I wanted to share anyhow! I tried a hardanger stitch where you cut out the horizontal threads then twist the vertical threads.

Yay! More people trying Hardanger! It worked perfectly for this and looks great!

I love Hardanger, but eventually I have to stop working on it caUse the white on white makes my eyes bleed.

[kuja.girl]

That looks amazing Katdun!
Did you hand stitch the large blue border by hand or with a machine?

[katdun]

Thanks, guys! It was my first try, so it's not perfect, but I'm pretty happy with it. I'm trying to decide how to frame it. I was thinking of mounting it around either a red or grey mat and putting it in a nice black frame. I just can't decide if I want another mat around it on the front so it fits in a standard frame or if I want to order a custom frame.

@RMDC - It wasn't nearly as hard as it looks. I was kinda terrified that it would unravel all my stitched bands or I'd cut through my blue stitches and have to start over, but my grandma assured me she could salvage it if I screwed it up too badly. haha

@Eliste - My grandma does a lot of hardanger, but she uses colored thread/fabric more than the traditional white on white. I always wanted to try it, and I figured this was the perfect reason. I'm planning to do more soon!

@Kuja - The blue is all hand-stitched. All my hardanger books said to use #5 pearl cotton, but I didn't have any and I didn't want to wait for an order to come in, so I used all six strands of DMC floss. I ended up using 3 or 4 full skeins. lol

@icedragonj - You did all four bands in less than a week?! Even if you don't technically finish in April, I say that counts!

[Aggie Tsubi]

Well, there's no way my sampler is going to be done this month. I've been popping in now and then and enjoying following the topic and WIPs, but I haven't had much time to stitch since the beginning of the month. I did at least finally make a trip to Michaels and got what I needed to finish off the Super Mario Kart band. I think I remember reading a request for everybody to post whatever they did, finished or not, at the end of the month, so here's as far as mine will get this month:



As for my substitutions... hoo boy, I did so many on the fly that I really can't remember what's what. I didn't even follow the pattern exactly, since when I looked at the original sprites, some colors didn't seem to match exactly from one sprite to another, even when they were assigned the same color. Like Yoshi and the bananas were supposed to share colors, but I didn't stitch them that way. Another thing I changed is the blue patch on Toad. The pattern had it all as one shade of blue, but the sprite looked like it had two. If anyone really wants to know a specific color I used, I'll do my best to figure it out.

I'm also kind of torn about what to do as I move forward. As lovely as the other patterns are and as much as I want to stay true to the stitch-a-long concept, I'm in a similar position as Elle because I don't know anything about Journey, and on top of that, I have next to no experience or knowledge of DDR either (although I at least know what the arrows are for). I very well may go the same route and do replacements instead. I already failed at the stitch-a-long in terms of keeping up, so I guess it doesn't make a difference if I doubly fail by not stitching the same things. Well, no matter what I stitch, I'm sure I can come up with something I'll enjoy. I'm half-entertaining the idea of doing an all-SNES sampler.

[kuja.girl]

@Kuja - The blue is all hand-stitched. All my hardanger books said to use #5 pearl cotton, but I didn't have any and I didn't want to wait for an order to come in, so I used all six strands of DMC floss. I ended up using 3 or 4 full skeins. lol

holy cow, that's a TON of hand stitching! It looks fantastic though. I think the 6-strands of DMC is a decent sub of the pearl cotton, and you would likely have ended up using just as many skeins of that!

[Eliste]

@Eliste - My grandma does a lot of hardanger, but she uses colored thread/fabric more than the traditional white on white. I always wanted to try it, and I figured this was the perfect reason. I'm planning to do more soon!

Make sure you post it if you do! I love it.

[blackmageheart]

I already failed at the stitch-a-long in terms of keeping up, so I guess it doesn't make a difference if I doubly fail by not stitching the same things.

Please don't feel like you failed, because you didn't. What's really important is that you had a go at it. It's not a contest, just a bit of fun! Finish it in your own time and in your own way, but make sure you post a picture of it!

Make sure you post it if you do! I love it.

Definitely! I love to see hardanger.


Can I remind all participants to post a picture of their progress no matter how much or little it is. Thank you!