QS Red Hearts Finish!

The last stitch went into "QS Red Hearts" on December 3rd!

I fell in love with this piece of art by Ching-Chou Kuik

It was beautifully charted by Heaven and Earth Designs.

I began on June 24, 2015 and finished December 3, 2018.

168 days of cross-stitching went into this piece.

It took roughly 499 hours. (498 hours and 56 minutes - according to the spreadsheet I created to track my progress.)

More than 3,000 stitches were added in November. 

741 of those stitches were added during IHSW.

Rotating 3 large cross-stitch projects felt a little overwhelming in 2017, so finishing this piece was my biggest crafty goal for 2018.

I am thrilled to see her complete!

I want to thank all of my blogging friends that cheered me on as I worked on this beauty.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Renee

IHSW stands for International Hermit & Stitch Weekend. This event, which originated at Random Ramblings, occurs the 3rd full weekend of the month. There is an IHSW Facebook Group that you may find here if you would like to participate. 

QS Red Hearts Update - October 2018

In October, I really hoped to finish page 6 of my Heaven and Earth Design's "QS Red Hearts" cross-stitch project, based on artwork by the talented Ching-Chou Kuik. Mission accomplished!

This is how she looked at the end of September. 

1,324 stitches were added in October. 

7 of 9 pages are now complete!

This is how she looked on October 31st.

The project is 91.89% complete. (It was 89.07% in September.)

Pages 1-5: 100% 
Page 6: 100% (It was 70.34%)
Page 7: 100%
Page 8: 48.99% (It was 41.24%)
Page 9: 17.04% (It was 7.03%)

November 16 - 18 will be International Hermit & Stitch Weekend (IHSW). I hope to make significant progress on this piece then! (In October, 930 stitches were added during IHSW.) 

To meet my goal of finishing this project in 2018, I need to stitch 1,910 stitches in November and December. We'll see! It's a bit trickier now that I am working full time.

IHSW is an event that takes place the 3rd full weekend of the month. It is an opportunity to set aside as much time as possible to stitch. You may learn more about IHSW here. There is an IHSW Facebook Group that you may find here.

QS Red Hearts Update - September 2018

1,269 stitches were added to QS Red Hearts in September, completing Page 5. Six of nine pages are now complete. I love this artwork by Ching-Chou Kuik and it is beautifully charted by Heaven and Earth Designs.

This is how she looked at the end of August.

And this is how she looked at the end of September.

The project is 89.07% complete. (It was 86.37% in August.)

Pages 1-4: 100%
Page 5: 100% (It was 95.67%)
Page 6: 70.34% (It was 69.17%)
Page 7: 100%
Page 8: 41.24% (It was 23.31%)
Page 9: 7.03% (It was 2.4%)

October 19th - 21st is International Hermit & Stitch Weekend (IHSW). Last month 1,151 stitches were added during IHSW. We have a busy weekend planned, but I hope to make some progress. 

Wishing you all a great weekend!
Renee

IHSW originated at Random Ramblings. The goal is to set aside as much time as possible to stitch the 3rd full weekend of the month. There is an IHSW Facebook Group you may find here, if you would like to participate. 

QS Red Hearts Update - August 2018

1,037 stitches were added to my Heaven and Earth Designs "QS Red Hearts" cross-stitch project last month. I love this beautiful artwork by Ching-Chou Kuik.

This is how she looked at the end of July.

And this is how she looked at the end of August.

The project is 86.37% complete. (It was 84.16% in July.)

Pages 1-4: 100% complete
Page 5:        95.67% (It was 91.06%)
Page 6:        69.17% (It was 59.7%)
Page 7:      100%
Page 8:        23.31% (It was 14.48%)
Page 9:          2.4% (It was 0.47%)

This weekend is International Hermit & Stitch Weekend (IHSW), so I hope to make a lot more progress!

Wishing you all a fantastic weekend!
Renee

IHSW originated at Random Ramblings. The goal is to set aside as much time as possible to stitch the 3rd full weekend of the month. There is an IHSW Facebook group, too.

QS Red Hearts Update - July 2018

527 stitches were added to my Heaven and Earth Designs "QS Red Hearts" cross-stitch project in July. I just love this artwork by Ching-Chou Kuik!

This is how she looked at the end of April.

And this is how she looked at the end of July.

The project is now 84.16% complete. (It was 83.04% in April.)

Pages 1-4: 100% complete
Page 5:        91.06% (It was 90.68%)
Page 6:        59.7%
Page 7:      100% (It was 90.64%)
Page 8:        14.48% (It was 13.58%)
Page 9:          0.47%

To finish her this year, I need to add roughly 1,490 stitches a month. I am working full time now, so time will tell if I can pull that off or not.

Thank you for visiting!
Renee

QS Red Hearts Update - April 2018

1,179 stitches were added to my Heaven and Earth Designs QS Red Hearts cross-stitch project in April. This piece features artwork by Ching-Chou Kuik.

This is how she looked at the end of March.

This is how she looked on April 30th.
No progress was made in May or June.

The project is now 83.04% complete. (It was 80.53% in March.)

Pages 1-4: 100% complete
Page 5:        90.68% (It was 83.02%)
Page 6:        59.70% (It was 50.15%)
Page 7:        90.64% (It was 86.39%)
Page 8:        13.58% (It was 10.39%)
Page 9:          0.47% (It was 0%)

International Hermit & Stitch Weekend (IHSW) is an event that originated with Joysze at Random Ramblings. It takes place Friday through Sunday on the 3rd full weekend of the month. It is an opportunity to spend as much time as you can stitching. You may learn more about IHSW here. The Facebook group is here. I try to dedicate my IHSW stitching to this piece, in hopes of finishing it this year.

Happy Stitching!
Renee

QS Red Hearts Update - March 2018

This month, I surpassed my goal of adding 1,300 stitches to my Heaven and Earth Designs QS Red Hearts cross-stitch project, based on artwork by Ching-Chou Kuik.

This is how she looked at the beginning of the month.

This is how she looks now. 2,075 stitches were added. (Only 243 of these were added during IHSW this month.)

If I keep stitching at this rate, I may finish her by July instead of December!

The project is now 80.53% complete. (It was 76.11%.)

Pages 1-4: 100% complete.
Page 5:        83.02% (It was 74.64%)
Page 6:        50.15% (It was 32.86%)
Page 7:        86.39% (It was 73.65%)
Page 8:        10.39% (It was 2.30%)
Page 9:          0%

Thank you for visiting!
Renee

IHSW is International Hermit & Stitch Weekend. This event takes place the 3rd full weekend of the month. (Knowing March 16th-18th would be busy for me, I did most of my stitching the 2nd weekend of this month.) You may learn more about IHSW here and find the Facebook Group here. See what others are working on through the link party found here.

I do hope you will join us with IHSW next month: Friday, April 20th - Sunday, April 22nd.

QS Red Hearts Update - February 2018

My goal this year is to add at least 1,290 stitches to my Heaven and Earth Designs "QS Red Hearts" cross-stitch project, based on the artwork of Ching-Chou Kuik. As of January 1st, this would have finished the project by the end of December. With my current stitch count, this goal will complete the piece in November. 

This is how she looked at the beginning of the month.

I added 582 stitches to her before International Hermit & Stitch Weekend (IHSW), so she looked like this on Friday morning.

And another 1,473 stitches were added during IHSW. A total of 2,055 stitches were added to her this month. (And putting her away until March is going to be hard! She's getting so close to a finish.)

The parked threads were driving me a little crazy, so I worked them in. So, it may not be as easy to see, but I did finish another diagonal row of the chart.

I passed the 75% complete milestone on Saturday. (I'm sorry you missed seeing my happy dance!)

The project is now 76.11% complete. (It was 71.74%.)

Pages 1-4: 100% complete
Page 5:        74.64% complete (It was 65.15%)
Page 6:        32.86% complete (It was 17.71%)
Page 7:        73.65% complete (It was 56.13%)
Page 8:          2.30% complete (It was 0.11%)
Page 9:          0.00% complete

Thank you for visiting!
Renee

IHSW stands for International Hermit & Stitch Weekend. This event takes place the 3rd weekend of every month and began at Random Ramblings. You may learn more about IHSW here, find the Facebook group here. Save the dates and join us the weekend of March 16th-18th. It is simple, take a before picture of your stitching project(s), stitch as much as you can over the weekend, and take an after photo to show off your progress.

QS Red Hearts Update - January 2018

My goal this year is to add at least 1,290 stitches a month to my QS Red Hearts Heaven and Earth Designs cross-stitch project. Meeting that goal will mean a finish this year. 

I love this piece of artwork by Ching-Chou Kuik!

This is how she looked at the beginning of the month.

981 stitches were added between January 19th and 21st for IHSW.

(Learn more about IHSW below.)

And this is how she looks now.

2,158 stitches were added this month. 

This completed another diagonal row across the chart.





The project is now 71.74% complete. (It was 67.15%.)

Pages 1-4: 100% complete.
Page 5:      65.15% complete. (It was 45.43%.)
Page 6: 17.71% complete. (It was 7.44%.)
Page 7: 56.13% complete. (It was 47.09%.)
Page 8: 0.11% complete. (It was 0.09%.)
Page 9: 0% complete. 

Thank you for visiting!
Renee

International Hermit & Stitch Weekend (IHSW) is an event hosted at Random Ramblings that is held the 3rd full weekend of each month. You may find more details here. The IHSW Facebook Group is here. And this month's link party is here at Random Ramblings, along with photos of a gorgeous finish.

QS Red Hearts Update - December 2017

My Heaven and Earth Designs "QS Red Hearts" cross-stitch, based on artwork by Ching-Chou Kuik, will be my International Hermit and Stitch Weekend (IHSW) project until it is finished.

This was last month's photo.

My goal is to add at least 600 stitches a month. I suppose the positive side to waking up way too early all weekend was the extra stitching time. 

I added 952 stitches and finished another diagonal section - reaching the bottom of the piece.

31,553 of 46,990 stitches are complete.

The project is 67.15% complete. (It was 65.12%)

Pages 1-4: 100% complete

Page 5:        45.43% complete. (It was 42.62%)

Page 6:          7.44% complete.

Page 7:        47.09% complete. (It was 31.78%)

Page 8:          0.09% complete.

Page 9:          0% complete.

In 2017, I added 13,385 stitches to this piece! Only 15,437 to go...

Thank you for visiting!
-Renee

IHSW is the 3rd full weekend of every month. You may find more details about it at Random Ramblings, here. The IHSW Facebook Group is here.

This is day 18 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge hosted by www.muppin.com.

You may find more details and other participating blogs here.

QS Red Hearts Update - November 2017

This weekend I added 1,399 stitches to my 

Heaven and Earth Designs "QS Red Hearts" cross-stitch, 

based on artwork by Ching-Chou Kuik. 

I was hoping to add 600 stitches, so I am thrilled with the progress.

I finished another diagonal row of the chart and surpassed 

the 30,000 stitches milestone.

The photo above shows 104 days of progress.

This is how it looked in my last update (way back in September...) 

I am finding it difficult to put her away until IHSW in December.

The project is 65.12% complete. (It was 62.15%.)

Pages 1-4: 100% complete.

Page 5: 42.62% complete. (It was 29.39%.)

Page 6: 7.44% complete. (It was 7.26%.)

Page 7: 31.78% complete. (It was 23.05%.)

Page 8: 0.09% complete.

International Hermit & Stitch Weekend (IHSW) is the the third full weekend of the month. You may find more information about IHSW at Random Ramblings here. There is a new Facebook group set up for IHSW here. It was fun to see everyone's progress.

IHSW November 2017

It is the third full weekend of the month, which means it is International Hermit and Stitch Weekend (IHSW.)

I plan to work on my Heaven and Earth Designs "QS Red Hearts" project for IHSW. I really love this piece of artwork by Ching-Chou Kuik. (She sells lovely digital stamps on Etsy - which you may find here - and HAED has charted several pieces of her artwork - which you may find here. I am not affiliated.)

Yikes! I have not worked on this piece since September 9th. I hope to have visible progress to share on Monday. 

Stats before IHSW:
62.15% complete with 29,202 of 46,990 stitches finished.

It is going to be a busy weekend here, tidying our home to host Thanksgiving next week. And, my youngest son and his friends will be performing in Once Upon a Mattress, a musical parody of The Princess and the Pea.

Are you doing anything fun this weekend? I hope you have a great one!

-Renee

You may read more about IHSW here and see this month's post at Random Ramblings, here.

QS Red Hearts Update - September 2017

This month, I added 1,187 stitches to my Heaven and Earth Designs "QS Red Hearts" cross-stitch. I have to say, I love Ching-Chou Kuik's artwork and this piece is one of my favorites.

This photo shows how it looked last month.

If you follow me on Instagram, you may already know that I finished page 4 this month!

I am trying to work the rest of this project by filling in the grids diagonally.

Page 4 was sooo close to a finish, I had to fill it in.

Working diagonally, it may take longer to see a visible difference, but I will be able to alternate between pinks and reds on pages 5 & 6 and the darker colors on pages 7, 8 & 9.

I am also tracking my progress in my bullet journal. There is something satisfying about coloring in a square that represents 100 stitches.





The project is now 62.15% complete. (It was 59.62%.)

Pages 1-4: 100% complete.
Page 5: 29.39% complete. (It was 21.46%.)
Page 6: 7.26% complete.
Page 7: 23.05% complete. (It was 14.77%.)
Page 8: 0.09% complete. (It was 0.04%.)

I am joining Monday Stichery Link Party #127 at Super Mom - No Cape! Feel free to join the party if you have a blog and do any hand embroidery. I do hope you will pop over to see what others have been working on.

Thank you for stopping by.
Renee

QS Red Hearts Update - August 2017

If you follow me on Instagram, you likely saw several updates on QS Red Hearts, the cross-stitch chart from Heaven and Earth Designs based on artwork by Ching-Chou Kuik over the past month. 

Thanks to the motivation provided by The Stitching Hour Challenge hosted by Ambitious Stitches on Instagram from June 1st - August 1st, I made a fair amount of progress in July. 

In August, the New Official Heaven and Earth Designs Facebook Group announced a challenge to stitch 10 grids of a chart in a diagonal or checkerboard pattern with a bit of feathering on each block.

I opted to park my threads along the way. About 4 blocks in, I nearly stopped and worked the parked threads in - I figured I could work the challenge on a project without as many colors. But I decided to keep going.

In the end, I added over 3,000 stitches just completing the challenge and working in the parked threads. Since my last update 7,026 stitches were added to this piece. 1,491 stitches were added in July and another 5,535 were added this month.

I will likely continue working the chart in a diagonal pattern. There is a lot of black in the bottom row that I do not want to become bored with. Working some of the darker colors below and then some of the brighter colors above should prevent that.

If I could keep up this pace, this piece would be complete within 3 months. I do not know how likely that would be, but I am aiming finish as many projects as I can this year.

The project is 59.62% complete. (It was 44.67%)

Pages 1-3: 100%
Page 4: 97.36% (It was 28.22%)
Page 5: 21.46% (It was 7.12%)
Page 6: 7.26%
Page 7: 14.77% (It was 0%)
Page 8: 0.04% (It was 0%)

I am linking with the Monday Stitchery Link Party #123 at Super Mom - No Cape! I encourage you to pop over to see what the free embroidery pattern is this week and to see what others have been working on. If you do hand embroidery and have a blog, I encourage you to join the party!

Thank you for stopping by!
Renee