A to Z challenge - choosing the fabric

I've finally worked out which cross stitch to do for the A to Z Challenge.

I'm actually going to be stitching two.  One I'm planning on starting soon because it's a little more complicated.  The other I'm planning on stitching each day.  We'll see how it goes!

Choosing the patterns means it's time to choose the fabric.

I've decided to stitch on aida rather than evenweave.  Although I prefer the finish of evenweave (it looks smoother in my opinion), I find aida quicker to stitch on because it requires less counting.  There's also less chance of missing a line or two, so less frogging (unpicking).

Rather than order fabric especially for each project, I'm delving into my stash.  I have quite a collection of hand-dyed and coloured fabrics.  I love hand-dyed fabrics.  I find they give added dimension to projects, without having to add a lot of extra background stitches.  They're also more fun to look at than plain white.

Just some of the colours in my stash

I find choosing the right colour can be tricky - there's either too many "perfect" choices or no "just right" choice.  I cheated this time - I handed my stash to my youngest brother and said "which do you think will work best for these projects?"  He's not the most artistic of my brothers, but he made a choice, and I'm going with it.

Both of these fabrics are from Sew It All, an Australian company that specialises in hand-dyed and opalescent (sparkly) fabrics.  I love their colour ranges, and their prices, and that they're Australian.  Most of my more recent projects have been stitched on their fabrics.

For Project 1, I'm using "Bluescape" from the 'Colours of Australia' collection.  There's a lot more greeny-blue than is showing in this picture.

 

 For Project 2 I'm using "Stormy Sky" also from the 'Colours of Australia' collection.  The second picture shows the colours better.

I'm itching to get started, but I need to sort threads first.  That's a job for Future Me.

Happy Stitchin!