The Three Little Birds… Oops… I mean The Three Rather Large New Starts!

The Three Little Birds is a Grimm Fairytale and there seems to be a fairytale theme going on at the moment with my newest chart acquisition. As previously mentioned Heather from Fantasy Cross Stitch gifted me with a chart. Thanks again Heather! At the same time she decided to purchase her first HAED, the gorgeous Rapunzel chart by Annya Kai. So we have both picked fairytale charts! The chart I choose was Robber Bridegroom by Rachel Marks. As a rule I don’t normally gravitate towards the monochromatic designs since I’m such a big fan of color! However, I broke the rules for this chart. It just really spoke to me.

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Chart Mock-up:
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Link to chart

Time to stock up on black LOL! There are 24 skiens of black needed for 25 count but I’ll need more than that on the 20 count. My current estimate based on what I’ve stitched so far is about 40 skiens! It’s not all that bleak though! There are actually 16 different colours in this chart. The charts I have been working with have anywhere from 90 to 120 colours, so I think I will enjoy the simplicity of fewer colours for a change! I am tenting this on mint coloured 20 count lugana, using a combination of strands depending on the colour I am stitching with… Black will be 5 over 1, dark shades will be 4 over 1, mid tones will be 3 over 1 and light tones 2 over 1.  The chart has no metallic so I want to incorporate some treasure braid, light effects and kreinik! I will work these in with some of the whites and lights.

Most of the floss colors for Robber Bridegroom and my start on Robber Bridegroom: photo IMG_2865_zpsfaxijibt.jpg photo RobberBlog_zpslzggni31.jpg

Spirit of Flight

Spirit of Flight by Josephine Wall is also on the list of new starts.  I was lucky to have this gifted to me by the lovely Karen at Ft Ft Ft Stitch some time ago.  I haven’t forgotten about her Karen! I did start this awhile back and got halfway though the first page before deciding I hated the fabric and needed to restart.  I purchased some pale yellow lugana for this and only just restarted it as it's taken awhile for me to to decide on fabric and thread combinations.

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Above: Truer depiction of fabric color as stitching close up photo washes it out. Below: Start on Spirit of Flight, bottom left corner (Started 1st April 2015).

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Mystery Start

The third start is my first non-HAED chart! Like Spirit of Flight there are also birds in this one… I’m not revealing the whole picture yet as this is going to be a gift.  It’s a really heavy confetti piece so I hope I can get done in time, especially with the distraction of the HAEDS! Here is the top left corner anyway.  It’s also using the same thread and fabric combination as Robber Bridegroom (with 4 over 1 on black as black confetti stitching needs less strands than black block stitching).

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photo TagMeganmedium_zpse179497a.jpg

Comments

  1. Justine8 April 2015 at 01:09

    Wow Megan, three more new starts?! I love the colours in the first one, definitely not just black and white! Would it be worth buying a cone or two of DMC 310? I have one on order as I use a lot of it.
    Your Spirit of Flight looks amazing!
    What lovely gifts you received.

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  2. Lady Stitch-a-Lot8 April 2015 at 01:38

    Your new start all look amazing =) I love the Wall piece, it's so colorful =)

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  3. Annie8 April 2015 at 03:31

    Wonderful new starts! I love them all.

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  4. Megan Joelle8 April 2015 at 04:09

    Thank you all for your lovely comments :) I did consider buying a cone of 310, but they are not available locally and it was pricy with shipping! Also I managed to catch an Easter sale special on DMC floss, so got a whole bunch of floss at $0.68 AU as opposed to the regular $1.20 a skein! So I'm set for awhile anyway! :D

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  5. The Maiden8 April 2015 at 10:08

    I have been toying with the idea of a new HAED start and thought "No, I mustn't!" but after reading your post I am inspired! I could buy Nocturne... but I have 3 other Dahlig charts already kitted up (decisions, decisions!) I LOVE your new start and the fairytale theme and cannot wait to see more progress! The monochromatic scale should lend itself to some speedy stitching and I am interested in seeing how the different number of DMC threads will look.

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    Replies
    1. Megan Joelle8 April 2015 at 20:16

      I am glad you are inspired!... But I would suggest using the idea of getting the Nocturne chart as an incentive/motivation to finish one of the three Dahlig charts you already have! I'm specifically thinking of Umbrella Sky ;) That would inspire you to keep going with Umbrella Sky. Once you finish Umbrella you could use that finish to claim Nocturne in the rewards program! I claimed Iris in the rewards program for my Umbrella Sky finish! My sister gifted me with the Nocturne chart for my birthday several years back... I've been very lucky with charts as you can see :D

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  6. Natascha Kooijman8 April 2015 at 10:36

    That will work fast that monochromatic work.. Only 16 colors... Now that's nice when you want to do some fast stitching.
    I love all your new starts......OMG... I would like a new start, but I have way to many old starts waaaaah..

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  7. Heather8 April 2015 at 11:44

    Wow love your new starts! I haven't started Rapunzel yet and I've actually taken a break from stitching altogether as I'm focusing on school right now. So I shall live vicariously through all of my stitchy friends!

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  8. Lija Broka8 April 2015 at 12:40

    Some exciting new starts!

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  9. Megan Joelle8 April 2015 at 20:24

    Thank you all! I do hope Robber Bridegroom stitches up quickly ;) It's certainly nice to get stuck into some block stitching after working on other really heavy confetti pieces... Hope you can get back into the stitching again soon Heather!

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  10. Leigh9 April 2015 at 06:35

    Wow, this looks incredible!

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  11. The Crafty Princess9 April 2015 at 07:50

    Hi I just found your blog! I adore your new starts especially the Jo Wall and Rachel Marks ones. They are 2 of my fav artists from HAED as well. Looking forward to your future wips as you're off to a fantastic start. Robber Bride is now in my WL after seeing it here. Somehow I missed it on the HAED site when it was released. Have fun
    xo Alicia

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  12. Dani - tkdchick9 April 2015 at 09:41

    Wow what fantastic HEADS you're working on! Projects that big sure are a labour of love!

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  13. Faith...9 April 2015 at 16:05

    Beautiful new starts, I especially love the Robber Bridegroom!

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  14. Unknown10 April 2015 at 19:37

    Love your new starts, the 2nd one looks like it will take a lot of time. Pretty.

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  15. Mii Stitch13 April 2015 at 08:42

    Fantastic new charts & starts! I love the first one, it's just fabulous. Good luck with all this black :)

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  16. Rachel14 April 2015 at 01:39

    Your three completely different new starts look great. Other than on charts and kits where specified, I've never heard of anyone using a different number of strands for the different shades as you are doing with Robber so I'll be interested to see how it turns out. It should give great depth to the piece. Good luck with all that black! :)

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    Replies
    1. Megan Joelle14 April 2015 at 05:18

      Thanks Rachel :) I've had a few mention the different amount of strands thing! I've actually done this with Nocturne to a smaller degree (combining 2 over 1 and 3 over 1 successfully). One of the major things I've realized with tent stitching is different amounts of strands can be mixed successfully in one project without it being noticeable because the different colours/tones of the floss effect the way the thread looks once it’s stitched into the fabric. it actually makes sense because light fabrics will eat heaps of dark thread easily ;) Whereas light coloured threads on light fabrics cover easy and just don't need the same amount of strands to be perceived in the same way as the dark tones. In the past I have stuck with uniform amounts of threads for most pieces because for some reason I had this limitation in my mind about not mixing thread combinations. Since I've started experimenting with different thread combinations I'm much happier with the results I'm getting!

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  17. Hazel26 April 2015 at 01:30

    Beautiful new starts!

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