You have a LOT of patience aashley333. I was going to try this once with a photo of our dogs and bought a cross stitch CD that converted pictures to designs, but when I told our son who is a software engineer, he said there is a simple program you can use to convert several colored pixels together to form blocks of color for appliques. I don't know what it is since I never did make it, but maybe someone on the board who is tech savvy can tell you if you are interested. Your method is great however, so proceed as is if that is your choice, as your results are lovely.