My Cherub is very nearly done! Yesterday I didn’t stitch but on Monday I finished the back stitching. I spent far too long playing around with her eyelashes…
another few nights and we will have a finish!
WIP Wednesday
Tag Archives: Mirabilia
January WIPocalypse
WIPocalypse is into year 5! I’ve only been participating for one of these, but it’s a monthly check-in I want to make time for. WIPocalypse is hosted by Mel at her blog http://measi.net/measiblog/
Question of the Month: Introduce yourself, your projects, and any goals you have for the year!
Me & the Moon at Mission Bay
Well, nothing much has changed since last January. I’m still in the same house, same job, same everything really – only the projects have moved on. We are very nearly done with the SIL’s house reno so that will open up more free time. The Screaming Teen turned 16 on Saturday and has passed the first year of his major exams; Zachary Quack is about to turn 13 & start high school (he has a scholarship, I was so proud I nearly burst) and Mase the Ace is posting his own Lego creations on my Instagram account. This is what you get when you have gifted kids and are stupid enough to use hubby’s new extension number as your cell pin.
I am up to the very last panel of a Mirabilia Round Robin – this one belongs to Crafty Rahenna. Then mine will come home! I’m pretty excited as I haven’t even seen an update for nearly a year now.
But before I move onto the RR, I want to finish one piece so I have something completed on my #16in2016 list. Cherub with Tree is an older freebie by Nora Corbett, and I started her as a coverage experiment in June or July 2014, before putting her away and focussing on the Audubon St birds that are on the same fabric. She is on 25ct white Lugana, stitched 3 over 2, with 2 strands as the backstitch. I found that the darker threads don’t have as much coverage as the lighter (lots of others have commented the same with DMC) but overall I’m pretty happy with the result. Lots and lots of conversions (hubby chose the dress colours & is really pleased with the outcome). I think maybe another week and this will be done!
One thing I am doing for 2016 is keeping a separate portion of my diary for stitching goals AND keeping my WIP blog page updated with pics as I rotate. I have a page in my planner with my #16in2016 rotation goals – I am determined to be an adult about things this year. My trial isn’t time-based but section based. I didn’t think week about would work for me. So here we go:
- Mirabilia Mermaids of the Deep. First goal in December was to start the top mermaid and stitch the skin & hair. That took 11 days (altho some days I only put in a couple of threads!) and the next goal will be to complete the DMC in her tail.
I had a couple of days in between this one and my #newyearnewmira so I threw Roses of Provence up onto the stand to see if I wanted to add her to the rotation. And yes – she is back in.
- Mirabilia Raven Queen. My #newyearnewmira start in the FB group. My goal was to complete the border for the top half & get the architecture on the LHS done. I am doing the beads & Kreinik as I go. Next goal is the architecture on the RHS, including the Raven.
- Nora Corbett Cherub with Tree. The goal was to complete the LHS background and her hair – and that took 3 days so she stayed on the frame. This one will be my second finish for the year! My first is saved for the Smalls check-in later on this week.
- Mirabilia Roses of Provence. There’s a couple of others doing her as well in their rotations. Next goal is to get the tree and roses done. Beading as I go.
- Nora Corbett Blitzen. Goal is to get his body and the ribbons that connect him to Rudolph completed.
- Mirabilia Persephone. Next goal is to get her left arm and the “jellyfish” on the LHS finished. Then it’s onto her dress conversion!
- Nora Corbett Arezzo. This is my over 1 conversion. Goal is to get the lower pink roses done. I’m toying with using petite beads for the last lot of roses – talk about a glutton for punishment!
- Semco Toy Story sampler. Next goal is to get the dinosaur done.
- Teresa Wentzler Tapestry Cat. Next goal is to get the cat body done.
In addition I want to do a Small each month and drop in another couple of things – Simon has his eye on the Satsuma St “Pretty Little” series. He’s English, so London is perfect; he’s been to Paris, so that’s an obvious choice and we both love Sydney, so there’s 3. Smalls apart from this month will likely be the Joyful World SAL that I linked to the other week & the Tuscan Garden will replace Cherub as a Mini (my thought pattern is Small (Ornament)/Mini/Medium (a Nora Corbett size)/Large (a proper Mira size)/Yep That’s Big (Teresa Wentzler)/Absolutely Freaking Not No Way (HAED equivalent)).
Looking forward to reading some of the other WIPocalypse posts – jump on in!
WIP Wednesday
I almost forgot to post! Head down, tail up at work and (mostly) at home, I am still not reading much and writing even less, with the exception of Board reports. Which are boring. Unless of course you want to know more about the good/better/best matrix and how that is affecting sales? Yeah, thought not.
Anyways, I still haven’t got Rahenna’s round robin from Jacqui and I’m getting quite concerned. Not sure what to do – a RR going missing in the last round is rough. I KNOW as I still don’t have mine, and that was from another Auckland address. I’m kind-of scared that this will mean that I won’t be in any more international RRs and that makes me sad.
I’m working on Cherub with Tree. So many threads now have been converted, I have notes all over my working copy (a plus that I don’t know a PDF would keep up with on my tablet). I’ve worked out how to stitch and watch Netflix or Flosstube – blu-tak! – and the only frogging I did was colour related. Si has picked out the blues for her dress and is waiting for me to start – but I am about 20 stitches away from completing her wings and I want to get that nailed first.
This is the original and where I got up to on the weekend:
Not that much further to go! Then I’ll have a second finish (the ornament just needs making up but you can wait until the Smalls check-in to see that).
I also found some large book rings – perfect for the BAP quantities of bobbins! This is Persephone’s, minus the dress…pretty!
Monday. Yay.
After last week (some work frustrations & a migraine) I wanted to hole up all weekend. So I did. I only went out for the essentials (groceries) and enjoyed that feeling of being left alone. Or as alone as you can be with four males in the house.
I am beginning to think that I made my rotation goals too small. It took only 11 stitching days to get to the RP point for Mermaids of the Deep Blue and 7 for Raven Queen (updated images are on my WIP page). That just doesn’t seem long enough but it does mean I am not disliking any piece when I put it away. I’m not sure yet what I will do with the larger pieces.
I put the 2004 Cherub onto the scrolls on Saturday afternoon and was at that goal by dinner Sunday (to have the LHS background & her hair done, excluding Kreinik & beads) – so I’m going to work on her until finished, or Jaime’s RR piece arrives from Jacqui (whichever comes first). Being a bit more disciplined has meant that this piece has gone from hovering on the border of becoming a UFO to potentially my first finish in 2016. Plus there are a lot of thread conversions going on. If you would like to stitch this chart, you can find it HERE I will post my conversion details later on, once it’s all sorted.
I have plans for the next start already! Something small-ish that’s already in my stash. Something quite different from my usual stuff:
This is Little House Needlework’s Gourmet Garden. I’m going to convert the threads to a mix of DMC blends and have a really good play with it. I have a little baby blue lavender that I will use as a template for the two larger stems, and I’ll use some buttons instead of the white hearts down the centre. And probably re-watch the Branagh version of Much Ado as this design reminds me of the scenery in that film. Which has Keanu Reeves in it for additional scenery bonus. And the script is so so close to the original Shakespeare, even more bonus! TRAILER if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.
I will probably give this chart away once I’ve completed it – but that may not be for a few months, depending on how adult I stay. I’ll have to think of a competition question to go with that post!
December WIPocalypse – the Recap Edition
Theme: Recap your accomplishments for the year!
Way, way back in January 2015 I wrote that I planned to use more embroidery in stitching (uh oh) and would like to make another teddy or two (at least I found the materials and patterns I had stashed recently!). My stitching plans weren’t as fixed:
This year’s WIPs are:
- Teresa Wentzler’s Tapestry Cat SOME WORK DONE
- Mirabilia Stargazer COMPLETED
- Nora Corbett Mediterranean Mermaid COMPLETED
- Nora Corbett Reindeer (I started with Rudolph). I only have five charts more to go…six to buy DIDN’T BUY ANYMORE, RESEARCHED & FOUND OUT SHE’S ONLY CHARTED NINE IN TOTAL. RUDOLPH COMPLETED, BLITZEN STARTED.
I plan to start:
- Nora Corbett Letter C COMPLTED
- Nora Corbett Letter P STILL NEED TO BUY THIS ONE
- Mirabilia Rose of Sharon USED THE FABRIC FOR SOMETHING ELSE
2015 ended up being the year of the Round Robin. I have stitched in 6 Mira pieces and 5 local pieces – and got burned as the person who last stitched mine has gone AWOL and not bothered to return emails, phone messages or facebook messages so that’s really disappointing. Then there was the “friend” who lied repeatedly to me & shook me up.
April’s piece – only Rahenna & Lenna to go and it looks gorgeous.
Keely’s piece is nearly done!
Gingerbread House
Summer Queen
sunday’s progress. primrose urn
On the other side of the fence there are some amazing people out there. The stand Andie gave me is so so awesome and really helped me stitch thru carpel tunnel. Others are full of encouragement – Mel (who runs WIPocalypse), Anne (Feather Stiching), Erin (Crossstichery), my fellow Mira RR stitchers, the Instagram bunch and many, many more. Here’s to all of you!
Thank you for following along with my WIPocalypse journey. I hope you’re inspired to jump on in this year!
WIP Wednesday
It’s been an…uhh…weird Wednesday.
I got audited for the second part of my job today. Given that I practically invented the process, with minimal input, and I’m getting the outcome my boss wanted, I think I’m sound okay. But it was odd to explain my reasoning and go over scenarios with someone who is removed from the process. In a way I hope he comes up with some suggestions as I am not sure that I can’t refine the process somewhat.
Sarah was feeling as “done like a dinner” add I was so we went walking to Kings on the other side of Fowlds Park. She got advice about her magnolia and I brought herbs. I need more potting mix but the Bay & the Rue are in new pots where hopefully they can stay for a while. I also noticed my Little Bo Peep rose is covered in flowers.
My Twitter secret santa arrived! Jinny must have paid attention. I have plans for the white one in particular; white kreinik and beads to make it shine. I’m waiting to see if Jen got hers (stalking TBH).
And on the stitching front, as you can see from the IG feed, I’ve got started on Mermaids of the Deep Blue. I did re-chart her hand as it looked odd.
I think I’ll be onto her face just as soon as I finish with the skin on her chest.
What are you up to?
Done!
I’m so happy that I’ve completed my portion of the Round Robin in plenty of time to ship her to Rahenna.
This is Nora Corbett’s Moonlight Laguna. I’m glad I had the magazine as colour copies never are the best, and I changed out the border threads where they pinged into the tail (Lenna had twinked out all the rest of the border).
And here’s the piece as it leaves me:
WIP Wednesday
Hump day again! Well, technically, I reached the hump when I left yesterday, as I have Friday off to spend with Mase on his school trip to Bethells Lagoon. Can’t wait!
Last night I finished a small ornie for my twitter-based NZ Secret Santa. She doesn’t follow me here or on Twitter so it’s safe to share:
Very simple finish, blanket stitched felt on the back, used some sparklie thread to create the loop and added the star button to hide the threads.
I’m also working on Lenna’s mermaid tail still: Laguna will have a change in the flowers, so they match the ones used by Lenna in the centre of the whole piece. I’m on the third colour thread, and it’s working up reasonably quickly.
I do like her fabric choice! It works with a wide range of tail colours.
November WIPocalypse
November 25 – Topic: Which designer has inspired you to stitch the greatest number of designs and why do you think that is? (via Hazel, who I follow on Instagram!)
There’s a few designers that I collect/hoard/stash. I have a lot of Theresa Wentzler’s, altho I only have two finishes and two WIPs & one more kitted up; I went thru an Alma Lynne phase and I have one finish but another 10-15 charts; obviously a Winnie-the-Pooh phase when Lou was younger (those three finishes are currently hanging in Mase’s bedroom, and will likely move along to first grandchild). I have probably 20 BHG Christmas magazines that I pick stuff out of, & some Ink Circles gifted to me by Lynne, and 8 Lavender & Lace (MLI was Nora’s mum) but in the last year my stitching revival is mostly Nora Corbett. I would have 40+ charts stashed away and four current WIPs:
- Persephone
- Arezzo (over one)
- Roses of Provence (I’m re-thinking my decision to frog the current fabric, it might be easier now I have a portable stand)
- Reindeer Parade (my mish-mash with Rudolph complete except for beads, and Blitzen partially done)
I have quite a few finishes for only 20 months too:
- Stargazer
- Mediterranean Mermaid
- Santa’s Sleigh
- Shimmering Mermaid’s compass (I don’t like this mermaid, but I had to do the compass)
- Audubon St Yellow Figbird
- Audubon St Scarlet Tanager
- Audubon St Blue Monarch Flycatcher
- Fairy Letter L (click on the Conversion tab for deets)
- Fairy Letter C (again, click on Conversion for details)
And I’ve stitched on 5 of the seven Mira Round Robins too which has been fun!
I’m trying not to hoard too much. I have far more than I will ever stitch in my lifetime and while Z and M have fleeting phases of wanting to stitch it isn’t the norm by any means! However I think I will encourage it over the heat of the summer months. With seven weeks away from school there is only so much TV and Wii a boy can deal with!
Here’s last night’s bit of stitching. I played with the stand & while Lenna’s Mermaid Tails RR is far too big to fit on any scroll, my little bookmark fitted perfectly on the smallest set:
Isn’t he cute? I re-worked the CloudsFactory design as I wanted a slightly round but not as round as their characters Poirot. This morning I sat down for 30 mins and I have the beginnings of Mr Darcy (Jenna’s bookmark). He should work up nice and fast!
WIP Wednesday
I’m still managing small portions of Persephone most days. She has an “armbow” and last night I found the edge of page one. Yay!
Today I was totally spoilt by a stitching friend, Andrea. This box arrived (to scale, that teddy I made sits 30cm high):
And inside are the bits to make this!
It’s a lap/desk stand. I’m so grateful and can’t wait to put it together.
sewscrapmuse 