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3madspaniels wrote:this one is lovely, just look at the little bells in the tower!

Oh my.. this is beautiful. Well done. It didn't take you long at all to work on it. Now I am excited to start mine. This chart is available at my stitch shop. When I brought in Hardanger House to kit up, they showed me this church pattern and another one that I cannot remember. So.. if you can't find it there, let me know and I'll send it to you.
~Maggie

Hardanger Christmas House is absolutely lovely. I hadn't seen a layered piece before either.
Well done on a fantastic finish!

Absolutely beautiful!!!

This is the first time that I have gridded my work in over 20 years of stitching! It makes life so much easier, especially with a HAED. I haven't used aida for about 15 years now either! So this is a complete departure from normality for me. I tried 25 count evenweave, but soon realised that it wasn't for me. I don't think my eyesight would cope with that.

So here is my first update. This is 18 count aida.



I also framed my Hardanger House today. This was going to be a wall hanging, but it just wasn't working! When I sewed the two pieces together and held them up, the Hardanger was just too heavy and droopy! So I've framed it. I'm not completely happy with it. The border isn't straight. The linen is a really loose weave and very stretchy, so it was impossibly hard to get right. However, this is a handmade piece and my first attempt at Hardanger so perfection is a bit too much to ask for!



The stripey effect on the window is a reflection of my top!!!!

MaggieM1750 wrote:

3madspaniels wrote:this one is lovely, just look at the little bells in the tower!

Oh my.. this is beautiful. Well done. It didn't take you long at all to work on it. Now I am excited to start mine. This chart is available at my stitch shop. When I brought in Hardanger House to kit up, they showed me this church pattern and another one that I cannot remember. So.. if you can't find it there, let me know and I'll send it to you.
~Maggie

Thank you Maggie for your very kind offer! I'm not intending to do any more of these at the moment, too much of a framing nightmare! Also, the stash pile is in danger of collapse if I add any more to it! Lots of big projects in that pile too!

Great start!

Wonderful job on the framing!

Beautiful start. I think you will find the gridding the best thing ever. It also took me 20 years to grid. I had never even thought about it until I saw it here. Since this forum introduced me to HAED also, its a very good thing that gridding "came with it" or I'm not sure I could do my HAED's and stay sane. I am so going to enjoy your updates on this one as it is one of the prettiest designs yet. for your framed piece also. I think you did a lovely job.

Carole

Your HAED is looking great!!!! Wonderful work
Faith

Your framed piece is gorgeous good start on your HAED

Great start on your HAED!

Your hardanger piece looks beautiful!

Fantastic start on your HAED

Hardanger House looks lovely framed! Great start on your HAED - I'd never gridded before I started mine and have no idea how some stitchers manage without doing it, think I would go insane with all the counting! Look forward to seeing your updates on this one.

Congrats on the wonderful hardanger house finish ! How are the two pieces put together, did you do backstitch or running stitch or something like that through both layers?

(Fljots, go on, try it, you know you want to )

great work these look fab love the hardanger

The new piece is really looking great and the framing is beautiful.

Mabel Figworthy wrote:Congrats on the wonderful hardanger house finish ! How are the two pieces put together, did you do backstitch or running stitch or something like that through both layers?

(Fljots, go on, try it, you know you want to )

Confession time!!

I originally sewed the layers together using a sewing machine, but it failed miserably! The linen that the Hardanger is stitched on is quite "stretchy", and drooped when they were sewn together. So they are just layered in the frame, which will hopefully stop any movement. I so wanted to make this into a wall hanging, but it was not meant to be!

And I agree, Fljots really should try it! I really enjoyed the different stitches and am sure that I will do more in the future! The cutting is really nothing to worry about!

3madspaniels wrote:The linen that the Hardanger is stitched on is quite "stretchy", and drooped when they were sewn together. So they are just layered in the frame, which will hopefully stop any movement. I so wanted to make this into a wall hanging, but it was not meant to be!

If you do another one like this, would this be an idea:
After you've finished both parts, put them together so that they line up correctly. Tack them together with a few lines of running stitch (use a non-fluffing thread, like oneof those nylon sewing threads or fishing line). Now place a few cross stitches in the colour of the fabrci so they don't show up too much, scattered around the design, and going through both layers. That might keep them in place.

Another option is to stitch a line of running stitch (again in the colour of the fabric) along all the Kloster blocks (on the side where they aren't cut, obviously ). I don't think it would be very noticeable if you use a single strand of cotton, and it would keep everything in place.

(Oh, don't forget to remove the tacking afterwards, before turning it into a wall hanging)

Mabel Figworthy wrote:

3madspaniels wrote:The linen that the Hardanger is stitched on is quite "stretchy", and drooped when they were sewn together. So they are just layered in the frame, which will hopefully stop any movement. I so wanted to make this into a wall hanging, but it was not meant to be!

If you do another one like this, would this be an idea:
After you've finished both parts, put them together so that they line up correctly. Tack them together with a few lines of running stitch (use a non-fluffing thread, like oneof those nylon sewing threads or fishing line). Now place a few cross stitches in the colour of the fabrci so they don't show up too much, scattered around the design, and going through both layers. That might keep them in place.

Another option is to stitch a line of running stitch (again in the colour of the fabric) along all the Kloster blocks (on the side where they aren't cut, obviously ). I don't think it would be very noticeable if you use a single strand of cotton, and it would keep everything in place.

(Oh, don't forget to remove the tacking afterwards, before turning it into a wall hanging)

Thanks for the tips Mabel. I'll bear those in mind if I do anything like this again. I did consider stitching next to the Kloster blocks, but was worried that I would mess it up completely!

Time for another update!
I'm completely sold on HAED now! I did have reservations about changing my stitching ways after 20+ years, but haven't had any problems. The gridding is a godsend and I'm really comfortable with parking my threads too. Just as well really as I have 7 full size HAED's in my "to do" pile!

Wonderful progress. I agree that once hooked its really hard to not start accumulating HAEDs. Yours is looking great. I don't think I can stitch without gridding now, though I do mine in sections as I'm stitching. I am very impressed with your ability to park so many threads. I did a little bit of it on my LOTR when I was working on the chain but not nearly as many threads as you have. I don't think I could keep track of so many. Are you going to rotate any of your others or stick with this one till finished? It would be really difficult to move to another project as this one is so lovely.

Carole