FFO: Let's Talk Autumn from Hands On Design
Well, I managed to get this finished before autumn bids us adieu! I didn't think I would, and I wasn't even sure if I would make it to display before I started busting out the Christmas decorations, but I did.
I love this series from Hands On Design, even though we just have autumn (and I know winter is coming soon, and it'll be hopping into my cart as soon as it shows up at FQS). Something is satisfying about stitching words, even if they take me just as long as a project that's not mostly text.
I know they say you're not supposed to point out your mistakes, but I'm going to because I hope it will benefit someone someday. I think my fix was acceptable, and in the grand scheme, this is a minuscule error. I stitched this on 32-count chalkboard black linen. It's not the easiest to see, and sometimes I don't pay as close attention as I should. It happens to the best of us. You get distracted by something, and the next thing you know, you're off by a hair. And, I really do mean a hair. I ended up being off horizontally by one hole, not even a whole stitch. And it was towards the top, but after I had enough of the project stitched, taking it out just felt devastating. So, I set it aside for a bit and pondered.
As I looked at the chart, I realized I could add that half stitch space between the horizontal sections, and I could make it work, as long as I remembered to do that. The only place it got a little tricky is at the bottom where the leaves are overlapping, so the word pumpkin has a stitch and a half instead of one stitch between one of the letters. Feel free to zoom in and find it if you must. I think I did a decent job masking it, so certainly someone who doesn't know a thing about cross stitch won't see it. I also had several places where I had to unpick my stitches, which added at least two hours to my time, probably more.
I used the called-for DMC. It was a nice switch from using the fancy floss. I don't really keep any hard and fast rules about how I stitch with my fancy floss. Sometimes I do one half of the stitch across the row and then come back and cross the other way, and sometimes I do each stitch alone. Lately, I've been doing single stitches, which feels like it takes longer, but it's probably just in my head.
I went very simple on finishing this, and I can easily swap out the finishing as the seasons change, and I complete the other versions. I stuck this on an 8" x 10" piece of sticky board and put it in a frame that I purchased from Michael's. I don't have the glass in front, but do have it behind the stitched piece if I decide I want to change that in the future.
Details
Fabric: Wichelt 32ct linen in chalkboard black
Floss: Called-for DMC
Pattern: Hands On Design Let's Talk Autumn (Chalk Talk)
Other: Sticky Board, 8" x 10"
Frame: Gray 5" x 7" Frame with Double Mat, Expressions™ by Studio Décor from Michael's
Total Hours Spent: 60 hours, 28 minutes (I think I'm a slow stitcher)
