WIP Introduction – HAED #2

A couple of weeks ago I introduced you to the first HAED I ever purchased. Now although Serenity was the first one I purchased, it was not the first one I started stitching. Within 5 days of having bought my first HAED, I was forced (yes, forced! Shame on you HAED for putting out such irresistible baubles!) to purchase 2 more patterns. What sucked me in was one of HAED’s uber generous 50% off sales.

Confession time – When I was first getting into cross stitch (after reveling in freebie territory) the $19 price tag for a pattern seemed quite steep. I have since discovered that this amount is quite comparable to other designers who put out equally large patterns. 19$ may not be much to a lot of people out there but when converted to my currency of UAE Dirhams it is a good deal of money. Let’s not even try converting to the Indian Rupee which may just cause me to pass out in disbelief. So when I came across the 50% sale I gave in and purchased Serenity, gleefully thinking that my HAED appetite had been satiated. Haha… how very little I know myself. On the last day of the sale with just minutes to spare I purchased 2 more beauties to add to my collection. Weak willed doesn’t even BEGIN to describe me.

One of the two I bought is I Remember Moonlight by Adele Sessler.

I Remember Moonlight by Adele Sessler (PC : HAED website)

Isn’t she simply gorgeous? That moonlight infused glow, those silver dappled trees, the melancholy posture, her long flowing hair and her sheer windblown dress. I can practically HEAR those waves breaking on the moon-drenched sand. Sigh Sigh SIGH!!!

This piece holds a lot of firsts for me. It was my first ever BAP (well BAP to me at least), my first HAED start, my first time stitching on anything other than white 14 count aida (my first 18 count aida AND my first black fabric!). Pretty challenging for a beginner, huh?

It was only after quite a bit of stitching that I realized the picture wasn’t forming as nicely as I would have liked. The original artwork has a sublime cloud dappled sky whereas my stitching had sharp, obvious transitions in color. I went back to the site to take a look whether the  stitched example also looked as blotchy as mine did. It was only then I realized that I had unknowingly purchased a Mini and not the Regular size pattern. I really, really wish now that I had purchased the Regular instead and have no idea how I missed it when I was making my purchase. But I’ve already started on this piece and I am not going to go back and re-do over half a page worth of work. I will just have to grit my teeth and get on with it. I’m hoping the rest of the piece will look better than the sky.

Now here is where I make yet another confession. HAED purists (those who believe that you must do the pattern, the whole pattern and nothing but the pattern) please avert your eyes. Done? Okay here goes… I opted for the black fabric so that I would not have to stitch all that endless black background. To the brave and adventurous souls who are still reading, I do have my doubts about whether this is a good idea. I finally decided that I will re-evaluate whether to stock up on black floss after I have stitched a bit more. If the piece looks unfinished or choppy I will go back and fill in the black.

Here is my progress as of today.

Progress as of 27 June 2015

So please give me your advice fellow stitchers. Is it worth the extra effort filling in all that black? Do you think it detracts from the piece if the borders are uneven?