I am going to do a HAED. (Heaven and Earth Designs) Anyone who knows about them know they're huge projects that can take years to finish, are loaded with colors, and can be daunting to one who's never tried one. Side note: They do have "Beginner," "Mini," and "QS" versions of some of their designs, which are smaller than their usual projects. A lot of people recommend doing one of those before diving right into a larger sized design.
Of course, I'm ignoring that advice.
I have spent months scouring their website (here) and looking at the multitude of designs. To say their selection is all-encompassing is an understatement. They literally do have every type of design. Cute fairies, fat cats, realistic portraits, landscapes, mythical beings, scenes from books and TV shows and movies and on and on and on. There are even Harry Potter-centric designs!
After months I finally narrowed my choice down to one artist. Dennis Lewan's style is romantic, realistic and, in my opinion, just gorgeous. Once I realized I wanted to stitch one of his pieces came the hard task of actually choosing one. Finally I selected this:
I chose it for many reasons. I love old ships, lighthouses, and flowers. I love the colors - the shades of pink and purple in the sky are stunning. My main reason for choosing it is: Doggone it, I just like it.
The size is 350w X 438h. I haven't yet decided which fabric I'm going to do it on. I have a large enough piece of 18 ct Aida (finished size will be 26" X 31") and 28 ct Evenweave (finished size will be 19" X 21" if done over 1). I've been slowly getting the threads I'll need (there are 89 colors), as my local Walmart doesn't carry all of them.
I'm so excited! I've wanted to do a HAED since I first heard about them. I'm looking forward to starting it in January. In the meantime I'll be doing practice stitching to see which fabric I'm going to use.
