Feeling sick about Qingming

So, if you have been reading my blog for a while, then you will know about my super huge project that is 22 meters long (click Qingming Festival in the labels list on the left).

Well, something happened to it.

I don't know exactly when or how or what, but there appear to have been a small liquid spill on the fabric roll. Because of the pre-printing on the fabric, I now have a technicolor splotch on the page 4 area, and possibly a much smaller blob on page 10-ish.
As soon as I found this, I felt sick. This is my baby. I spent a lot of money on this kit, and to find it like this was a kick to the gut. I had to put it away and not think about it for a good long while.

Now that I'm stitching again, I was most definitely hearing the call of Qingming. It wanted out of time-out, and wanted to be loved again. For the first time in over a year, I pulled it out and took a look at the "damage".
It's hard to tell due to all the colors, but I don't believe there is any actual permanent damage to the project. Luckily, I received a pattern book with this kit, so I can still stitch from the pattern on the splotchy area. I just can't wash that area because the rest of the printing will run off, as well.
Here is the splotchy area:

I am feeling much better about the project, and I will be stitching on it more, again. My plan is to finish page 3 by the end of the year, and have pages 4-6 done by the end of next year. We all know that plans don't really mean much when it comes to stitching, but I needed to have some goal set forward.

Now, we also recently had a WIP SAL in Stitch Maynia. I chose this one to work on.

Here is where I was when I left off right before the spill:

Here is where I was after stitching since then (yes! I got that large yellow spot stitched!):

Here is where I am after the one day SAL:

I have managed to stitch well over 2000 stitches since picking this back up the past week! I managed to find a rhythm in stitching this that allows me to go much faster than I normally do, so I can get through it quicker, especially when stitching large areas of the same color.

Qingming facts

I was looking to see if I could find this cross stitch kit again on the website that I purchased it from. The only one I was able to find was crazy expensive, but the seller had some more information on the actual painting that this cross stitch kit is based on.
Depicted in this kit are over 550 different people, more than 50 heads of livestock (cattle, horses, mules, donkeys), more than 20 vehicles, and more than 20 ships. That's just insane! And I haven't even gotten beyond the side of the mountain., yet.

I will be very happy if I can manage to finish page 3 of Qingming before resorting to another project. I'm getting the itch to start a new one from the list I had posted a while ago. I think I just may start my beer project! I can then review and critique (and drink, of course!) all the different types of beers. Plus the Mousie is starting to call to me to be worked on.
Hmm, now that I have started talking about it, I reeeaaalllly want to start on the beer project. I have a feeling that I will be stitching on the shelves this week. (Sigh, so much for finishing page 3 first).

Anyway, here is where I left off last week:

Here is where I am now. I got a lot of the yellow (boring) area stitched.

An old friend

After my last post, I started looking through my previous posts, and I came across my old favorite, Qingming! I really got an itch to start working on it, so I pulled it out and got to stitching! I just realized that it has been a year since I last worked on it!
It felt good to stitch on it again, like catching up with an old friend I haven't seen in a while. I'm hoping to keep stitching on this one at least until I finish page 3 (which will finish that whole area on the left side). 


Here is where it was when I left off last:

Here is where I am now:

With this project, it doesn't look like much progress, but it is! So, finishing 3 pages, may seem like a lot, but when there are 279 pages in all, well, it tends to put things in perspective. It also doesn't help that all I'm stitching right now is the side of a mountain. It does help to go faster, though, since there are large blocks of one color. On page 4, I get to start on some buildings. Yay!

New Post for 2015! HAP beginning update

Happy New Year!

Earlier I mentioned that I was going to join a new SAL for HAP (Huge ASS Projects) for 2015. Crossed Stitches is hosting the new year HAP SAL. I only have 2 projects that qualify at this time (technically only 1, but considering the size, anyone in the world would consider the other a HAP). Here are pictures of  my progress on both of them, as of today.

 Qingming Festival

San Francisco

I think my biggest progress will be on Qingming this year, but you never know. San Francisco may start screaming at me the way Qingming did to finish page 2.

I don't have any progress to report on the mousie. I found an addictive game for my phone, and I had a sudden interview at work for a promotion, so I haven't been in the stitchy mood. More will be coming soon, though!

Very Merry Christmas!

I had a good Christmas this year.
My husband and I looked through the house, and it does look like I accidentally threw away that fabric for the 99 beers project! I'm mad at myself over that one. My mom did owe me a little money, though, so I'm having her buy me another one rather than pay me back. I will hopefully have the replacement in about a week.
Here is the picture of the rest of my fabric stash, though!

Also, my mom doesn't cross stitch any longer. I think it bothers her wrist and her eyes. So... she gave me all of her threads!
Unfortunately, my niece had gotten ahold of it and dumped out all of the floss boxes into a pile, so they are no longer organized. Here is what I got, though! (Yes, this is one of those huge ice cream buckets, overflowing)

I have also finally completed page 2 of my ginormous Qingming project! Yay!

I will be moving on, now to another project for a while. To help me decide which one, I entered all my new and current projects into a randomizer that I downloaded onto my phone, and it chose...

Mouse Embroider!

Edit: Update! I found my beer fabric! Hoo-ray!

IHSW, December 2014

It was IHSW this weekend! The last one of the year! I'm just glad that it will be continued. I enjoy participating whenever I get a chance. 

This month I worked on... you guessed it! Qingming! I didn't quite make it through page 2 like I was wanting, but I got really close! I only work 2 days this week, then I'm off the rest of the week, so I'm sure I'll get page 2 done very soon.

Here is where I was last update:

Here I am now:

All I have remaining on page 2 is just that small section including and below that blue spot (43) in the middle-ish, and maybe a little more lavender to the left.

I have a question for you guys that actually read my updates. I seriously appreciate my readers and the comments that keep me motivated to keep going! My question is this, do you guys like shorter times between updates, or do you prefer a longer stretch but with more progress?
I know this is a personal preference, and I figured I would get an idea of what others like. 

I set a goal for myself

I have had most of the week off from work, so I set a goal for myself to finish page 2 of Qingming by the end of this weekend. Sadly, I don't think I'm going to make it. I am certainly going to keep trying, though. I may forgo Candy Cane Christmas this week to push for the page finish.
I would probably already be done with page 2 if I hadn't started on page 3 already with those 2 columns on the left. Oh well. That just gives me a head start on 3 once I have 2 finished. 

Here is where I was as of my last update:

Here is where I am now:

On another note, for those in favor of my wild shopping spree, although my bank account doesn't thank you, you will be pleased to know that I did go ahead and buy a bunch of fabric. It should be here soon! I can't wait!

I found a great picture!

I have found a great closeup picture of the section of Qingming that I am working on. I love having this picture so I know that mine is coming out the way it is supposed to, and now I can actually show people what this section will look like. Click on the picture to get an even closer look!

I have been working on this a lot this past week. Comparing the new picture with the last one, I can definitely see the sections that were done. Can you tell?

Last picture:

Latest progress:

I'm happy with my progress! I'll be even happier when I finish pages 2 and 3, and can move on to page 4 and work on buildings!

Friday update again!

I have picked up the Peacock Tapestry again! Yay! Not only that, but I have the border outline completed and I have been able to start another color!
Here is where I am so far:

I am going to be keeping this one at work to work on there, now that the pirate is done.

I have also picked up working on Qingming again. I couldn't resist! It feels so good to be stitching again after having done all the magnets. The change-up is exactly what I needed.
I am thoroughly enjoying stitching on Qingming right now. I just need to somehow come up with a stand or something for it. Having to hold that huge bolt of fabric on my lap while I work on it is getting annoying. Does anyone know of an inexpensive woodworker who can make custom pieces? I say custom because of not just the size of this thing, but the weight, as well. I think if I had something that would allow me to keep it rolled at the edges and scroll along with my progress, that would be best. I just have no idea where to start with something like that! I'll probably ask this same question several more times in the upcoming years as I work on this project.

Here is where I am on Qingming. Yes, I know that you really can't tell on the progress much for this one, since the design is printed on the fabric. Also, since the project is so large, even if I do 1000 stitches a day, it won't look like a lot. The progress is there, though, I promise! All the loose parked threads left out on this one were bothering me, so I went ahead and stitched those colors in first.

On another completely different note, I have figured out why I have been having sleeping issues lately. It turns out that this is one of the less common side effects of the medication I have been taking for my stomach problems. This knowledge won't help me sleep any better, but it does make me feel better knowing that I am not just going crazy! Once I am able to stop taking this medication, hopefully things will go back to normal.
I have made a change-up, though, to take the pill in the morning rather than in the evening. We'll see how well that does. 

A few updates today

This week I have a few updates!
The first one is not such a big deal, but I wanted to share it anyway. I know that it is difficult to get a feel for the Qingming project, as I have only been taking pictures of just the very very edge of the project (since I haven't gotten very far yet). I had a picture on the left side of the blog of just half of the project, but it came out so tiny, that you still couldn't get a good look. I went ahead and found a better picture online. I have updated the picture to the left, and I have even added a link so that when you click on it, you will get an even bigger picture so you can see what it will look like (and of how huge it really is). I am in love with this project, and I want my love and enthusiasm to be shared by everyone!

That being said, I have been working on it for a while this week. Here is where I was as of my last update:

Here is where I am currently:

Also, since I kindof switched projects in the middle of the week, I have a little bit more progress on San Francisco that I haven't posted yet.

This is where I was last update:

Here is where I was when I switched over to work on Qingming some more:

Qingming update

I did get some more work done on this one this week, although not as much as I would like. These large sections of only one or two colors is getting to me. I'm getting bored! I'm going to stick with it, though, because I have a plan. A secret plan. I'll explain more about it later.

Anyway, here is where I was as of the last picture:

And here is my latest picture:

Not a huge amount done, I know, but I want to try and post at least once a week on my progress. Since it had been a while since my last update post, I figured I was due.

Qingming Festival again!

I'm so excited that I have gotten to cross stitch again!

From reading other cross stitch blogs, I have recently become aware of the parking technique to work projects in blocks and park the threads after each block. I have heard that it is much easier to do, so I decided to give it a try for my Qingming Festival project.

Immediately I could see the advantages! This project is so huge, that to keep working on it, I will need to keep it rolled up. Keeping the work done in columns will help me to be able to move it along.
As of this moment, I have completed the entire first column of the project, and so far I like working in the columns. To be fair, so far I have only had about 3 colors to work this with, but I think I will like it overall.
Another plus side is that it helps me keep track of how many stitches I have been completing. I would see others post "Oh, I did 200 stitches today" and I would always wonder how they knew that! I am never able to keep count, and there is no way I'd go back over it just to see how many stitches are done. But now I can honestly say that I have done 900 stitches this weekend!

Here is my progress (I have actually finished the entire first column now, but it isn't in the picture):

Right now it's pretty boring. I'm just working on the side of a mountain, so there isn't much going on. Also, with the image printed onto the fabric, it can be a little difficult to see how much I have actually done. Although, to be perfectly honest, since I have been trying out the parking technique, having the image printed onto the fabric has been so incredibly helpful.
 I have actually started a tracker and put it on the edge of my blog to keep track of how much I have stitched and how far I have yet to go. So far, I haven't even completed 1%. I think I am at just over about half of 1%.

Please leave a comment for me! I love to hear from everyone (plus I can always use encouragement to keep motivated)!

Along the River During the Qingming Festival. Page 1/279.

I was looking through one of my favorite online websites to purchase craft supplies, when I came across a kit for a really big one that looked really awesome. It was a Chinese scene that had a bridge, boats, and lots of people in it. This thing was 6 meters long! I instantly fell in love with it, and would periodically go back to the website to look at the kit. There is so much going on in this piece, that I could stare at it for hours. This is one of those things that just grabs you and captures your imagination.

I soon decided I was going to buy this kit for myself. I began researching it a little bit to make sure that I got the best deal around. During my research, I discovered that this cross stitch is based on a famous ancient Chinese painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival. 
From Wikipedia: It captures the daily life of people and the landscape of the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng, from the Northern Song period.

Unfortunately, in my research I also discovered that this 6 meter version is actually just a smaller portion of the full kit. The entire thing is actually about 22 meters long! Since I was already pricing the kit, I decided to go ahead and price the humongous full version while I was at it. I finally found the cheapest price that could be found, but since it was so big and the price was a little high, I decided to save up my money and purchase it after a few months.
About 2 weeks later, as I was periodically checking prices and kits, I found that one of the sellers on the website I go to was having a huge sale of 50% off their cross stitch kits. They even had the full 22 meter kit that I was wanting on sale, as well. This seller wasn't the cheapest  before the sale, but after the 50% off, this huge kit was about $100 cheaper than the lowest price I had found and decided on earlier!
I had to jump on this deal. Granted, I didn't have as much time to save up my money like I had originally planned, however that's what credit cards are for!

Now, I have had the kit a couple months, but I did take a few weeks off of working on it in order to crochet something up, really quick (I'll post it later). I have finally finished page one, though!
In this picture, you can see the top left corner of the piece that I have completed, and the technicolor printed parts that haven't been done yet.

The fabric has the pattern printed on itself, as you can see. I am very grateful for this. It helps me so I don't have to look at the pattern book every few minutes, and have to count all the squares. Could you imagine if you miscounted somewhere in the middle?!
The kit came with the pattern (broken up into 2 books), the bolt of aida with the design precision printed on it (with water soluble ink), all the floss (with 2 labelled floss palettes), and about 30 needles. The package weighed about 32 pounds!

There are 49 colors in this thing, but I didn't like the floss palettes they included. They seemed to be just laminated card stock, so I wanted to get something more sturdy that will hold up over the years that I will be working on this thing. I wanted to get something with big holes, too, since the replacement floss skeins are pretty big. I researched some more online, and found the perfect item. Yarn sticks! I bought 2 to begin with, and I have recently purchased my third. They hold 20 colors each, and are perfect! These things will be an integral part of my crafting, I can tell. I love them and highly recommend them to everyone.