Starting a new project - think I've already messed up

[AreYouStillThere]

I'm starting a large project I've held near and dear for a while but never had quite the right pattern - or gumption. Now I've taken the plunge, bought all the thread, ordered fabric, and printed off all 33 pages of it (slightly faint at that number). Now I'm worried that I already made a mistake with the fabric I chose. I bought 18 count navy blue aida, as it is a dark design and I thought it would make it easier. Only to discover that there are, yes, 40,000 black stitches. Now I'm regretting not buying black and saying screw it all to all those black stitches. As it stands, I will have to do them.

Mostly hoping someone will say "No worries darling your project will be simply marvelous." Or I can return the fabric (I think? I've never tried)

Thank you for any advice, and here's the picture I'm doing:

[Batboard]

Thats a lot of black stitching......but, you can always keep the fabric and buy some black fabric and use that, or just dominate the piece and truck on through. The piece Im doing now has 8000+ white, 13000+ black, 12000+ grey, 9000+ greenish, 7000+ other gray....ect......so I had a fun time deciding which color fabric to use, either way there is a lot of some other color sooooooo..... But, eh, stitching is stitching. Plus when I look at my stitchings its like a photograph, It brings back memories of stitching it and the thoughts, problems, ect of stitching it, which of course only I know and feel, so think of it as an adventure

[Lalina]

I think the nice part about the fabric you chose is that even if you end up with any stitchs that allow the fabric to peep through (most likely to happen with dark threads) you won't be able to notice them once you've finished the project. Having dark fabric will definitely make your piece look better even though you will still have to do a lot of stitching.

P.S. You might want to keep a white towel or something on your lap when you stitch. It will make it easier to see the hole in your fabric.

[funkymonkey]

You might want to keep a white towel or something on your lap when you stitch. It will make it easier to see the hole in your fabric.

I agree, keeping something white in your lap with a lamp shining on it will make your stitching much easier.

I personally would keep the navy fabric and stitch the black. Even though it seems like a lot of extra work, it will make the finished project more "even" to have all of it stitched, instead of having chunks without stitches.

I know I'm breaking my own suggestion by dying the fabric on my Super Mario World maps, so it's really up to your preference on how it will look in the end.

[AreYouStillThere]

Thank you guys, that is very helpful. I'm going to keep the fabric I bought (the navy blue) and truck on through. I know it will amazing when it's done!

Advice about white towel is so clever, I will definitely do that.

At 18 count, is a magnifying glass necessary?

[blackmageheart]

At 18 count, is a magnifying glass necessary?

I wouldn't have thought so! You'll be fine, 18ct isn't that small!

[Aegidia]

Good luck! I think it's going to look great with the navy blue. Because of the black-on-blue stitches, the black is going to look much 'deeper' than if it was unstitched (or on light fabric). I think the result will be great!

[Sheepish]

Can't wait to see the WIP!!

[AreYouStillThere]

You guys are so supportive. Love it! Because y'all are so nice, I'm going to run the rest of my plan through you. My biggest ever project before this was 1 page. ONE PAGE YOU GUYS. I'm scared.

So it's 18 count aida. I sewed the edges already and getting ready to grid. Except I decided to break my arm last week. Seriously putting a damper on getting started on this project. I'm just doing a lot of research instead. The plan is: 2 threads, #26 needle, and an 11x11 Q-snap frame + Q-Snap huggy. My new worry is that I don't know what the hell to do with all the excess fabric that is going to be hanging off the side (upwards of 2 feet on each side to begin with). How do you roll up the fabric when using the Q snap? It's too much to fit under the clamp, I think, though I haven't actually tried it because of my intent to injure myself.

Thoughts on this plan/ideas for the excess fabric?

[blackmageheart]

Thoughts on this plan/ideas for the excess fabric?

If there's lots of fabric getting in the way of my stitching hand, I use something like a kirby grip (bobby pin) just to hold it together and out of the way - I'm not sure how well that might work for you but it has worked for me in the past on very large pieces of material.
The other thing I use for really big projects is a standing frame, although I haven't dug that bad boy out for a long while now!