Hi - Artecy patterns are fairly easy to follow however your relaxation level would depend on what you have stitched in the past. This is a "cover all" pattern which means all the squares are stitched. Also with 65 different colors of floss this will be a begillion thread changes. If you know this going into it I think you will like your finished project. Just keep in mind it is a big project and won't be done in a few weeks. I just finished one "Lying in Wait" by Kustom Kraft that took a little over six months with about 4 to 5 hours of stitching every night. Artecy is very good with answering any questions you may post to this chat room. They monitor it most every day. Also the stitchers are very good with giving little hints on how to save yourself frustration and aggravation. I can't tell you how many times I have had a question/problem and taken it here and gotten excellent advice. My advice - if you have experience with patterns more than 5 x 5 with a few colors - go for it. You will be so glad you did as this is one special pattern.
cheryl

Hi Nanatmz2,

Thanks for your message, this is our design.

Our larger patterns like this one would be hard for beginners but if you have had some experience you should be fine, there are just full cross stitches, no specialty stitches or backstitching.

As clpatt123 explained, these sort of designs do take time and you will notice alot of colour changes with these style of patterns. It would be very annoying to for example stitch along each row and change colours all the time, so you can adapt your stitching to find a way to make it more enjoyable for you.

We suggest to make it a little less daunting for you to just concentrate on 1 page at a time and maybe each 10 x 10 square at a time. Stitch all the stitches of the same colour in that 10 x 10 square or nearby before changing to the next colour. As the pattern is totally filled you will not see your cotton travelling behind the fabric a small distance. Note if you stitch in blocks or sections like this you can sometimes see the lines between each section, especially if you leave a project for awhile, so it is recommended to stitch a few colours to the left, right up and below, just so you do not have straight square blocks of stitches.

What I do and many customers do is stitch these in a cross country style so we stitch as many stitches as we can of the one colour in the same area, before changing colours.

Some make a personal working copy and use highlighters on the pattern to mark stitches done if you have trouble following the stitches you have completed. I personally use a yellow highlighter on the pattern to mark the stitches of one colour I am going to stitch on a page and then after I complete those stitches I use a blue highlighter to go over the yellow ones stitched and then I know I have completed them.

Then I move onto the next symbol and colour. Just using highlighters seems to help break up all the symbols and make them easier to see. I also stitch the large blocks of colours on each page and then go in and fill in the scattered stitches.

Hopefully this information will help. If you have any further queries please let me know.
Thanks and Best Wishes
Tereena Clarke
Artecy Cross Stitch

Great tips!

Another thing I would do, ESPECIALLY for a cover all piece, is to grid my fabric first with the Easy Count Guideline, which you can get here at ECS. Takes a little time, but well worth it! Makes stitching a little faster, makes COUNTING WAY FASTER, and you don't get lost!

Happy stitching and WELCOME to the group!

Marlene

PS: Artecy is my favorite!! Fairly easy to stitch, no fraction stitches!!

ONE MORE SUGGESTION -- Make at least one copy of your pattern and put it in a safe place. This is just in case you lose a page or it spill something on it. Of course, you have to remember where that safe place is. Keep the pattern away from your pets. One stitcher wrote that her dog ate the pattern!

And post pictures! Completed, partially completed....we don't care! Just want to see and share! :)