Dragon Field Notes

After watching The Lancashire Stitcher work on this project last year, I decided that I wanted to stitch it too. But it is BIG, both in stitch count and size.

Stitch count is 471 x 597, worked 1 over 1 on 25 count, the piece will be almost 19” wide by 24” tall. If I work it on 22 count, 1 over 1, it comes to about 22” wide by 28” tall. That’s quite a significant size for me. If this was full coverage, which it is not, it would be 281,187 stitches! That’s intimidating!

My normal go to is 16 count, 2 over 2, but that would have made this piece about 30” x 36”. Way too big for my walls.

Add in that there are 89 floss colors in this piece. 1 over 1 is half the floss needed rather than two over two. Plus the larger the stitch, the more floss needed.

So I have, over several shopping trips, purchased my floss. And today I made my floss drops on the Cricut.

I had started this piece on the called for white, but the very edge is white and my eyes aren’t that good, even with both my stitching glasses and a magnifier, to clearly see white floss on white background at that size.

Can you see the white stitches beside the ecru? I can’t so I ordered two pieces of fabric in light gray to come in. I’ll use the lighter piece when I receive them. But until they come in, I don’t know if it will be 22 or 25 count.

I anticipate this piece will take a couple years to finish. I’m not a monogamous stitcher, and I’m good with that. It’s my hobby, I can take my time, jump between projects, stitch whatever hits my fancy on that day.

I have also finished a quilt for LoveQuiltsUSA, an organization of crossstitchers and quilters that make quilts featuring cross stitched blocks for children who are ill.

This was fun to make, and now that it’s done, I return to customer quilting for a few days

All in all, I haven’t posted much, but have been staying busy. Staying busy is my sanity, what’s yours?