Tag Archives: Mirabilia

WIP Wednesday #249

Posted in cross stitch, family, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, Teresa Wentzler, Toy Car Restoration by

Morning everyone!

Well, best laid plans and all that… to repeat from last week “This week’s challenge is two fold, and I am picking option one. You have to stitch 200 in the following categories: Air/Yellow, Water/Blue, Earth/Green, Fire/Red & Wood/Brown. I’m going to complete 1000 stitches (hopefully!) in The Guardian, as all the elements are present in this design.”

Famous last words. I did end up using Guardian for the Air portion, but that was stone cold last on my list. I started the portion I’d set aside and because it was a mix of the same threads for both full and half stitches, I simply couldn’t get my head around it early in the week. I ended up completing this on Sunday, when the house was empty of everyone but Zac & I.

In a move that probably surprises no-one, I pulled out Mermaid of Atlantis. I completed 225 stitches in the Waterlillies Umbria & Espresso threads, the 212 stitches in her fins for water; then 226 stitches in DMC 470/avocado green for that option.

For Fire/Red, all I could think of is one of the globes in Shakespeare’s Fairies, so I did 222 stitches in one of those. Found an error in the grey, boo hoo, so I did waste a bit of time trying to re-work so I didn’t have to frog. That was a fail, as it was much easier to pull out those 12 stitches!

This week is the last week that the stitch challenge applies to Goblet of Fire. I am picking Option one, as I can see pieces that fit into most of these.

  1. Harry & Cedric touch the Cup at the same time – 200 on items that are touching. Shakespeare’s Fairies are holding hands…
  2. Voldemort attacks – 200 in grey or black. SF#2’s dress is grey…
  3. Cedric dies – 100 on a tombstone or graveyard scene. I have nothing here!
  4. Harry parents appear to help him – 200 on a piece you’ve had help with. Again, SF as I needed help to find the OOP chart…
  5. Mad Eye Moody & deceit – 200 on an ingredient in Polyjuice potion. SF again, as I used this in the Polyjuice task back in February.
  6. Harry donated his winnings to Fred & George for their joke shop – 100 on something that makes you laugh…think I’ll use Cloudsfactory Labyrinth

Bonus shot of Mase the Ace – he’s fully into the Toy Car restoration. If you’re wondering, he’s cleaning the rear grill with a damp blush brush. Works a treat.

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WIP Wednesday #248

Posted in cross stitch, goals, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, Toy Car Restoration by

Morning everyone! Outside of stitching, this week has been fairly busy, with time spent learning to restore the Toy Car – I have the carpets looking like new, & the vinyl looks pretty sweet too. The carpet is just elbow grease – a good vacuum, then I used liquid laundry cleaner in my pet shampoo Bissell and went to town. Takes about an hour all up for each piece but worth it. I did that on the kitchen floor, easy to clean after! Currently half the lounge floor is covered in a fugly blanket & the interior trim parts – one wash & two applications of the vinyl restoration liquid, applied in circles with a blush brush. Don’t mock, I saw it on a YouTube video about restoring a MR2 & it works. I didn’t buy the cheapest brush but then again I’m not having to re-do the work after picking out nylon bristles either. Tonight I’ll be attacking the parts of the dash that remained in the car and the door interior cards. Then we’re up to installing the new sound-proofing and speakers etc. These photos have posted in reverse order, whoops.

All that, plus normal house/work/kid stuff meant I only just scraped in my stitch homework. Until Sunday afternoon I thought I’d only get about 400 stitches in, but I kept plugging away with two particular colours and while I was waiting on a report to download Monday morning, I finished. Woot! Now to knock out the last 470-odd for the Ultimate stitch I was working on.

This week’s challenge is two fold, and I am picking option one. You have to stitch 200 in the following categories: Air/Yellow, Water/Blue, Earth/Green, Fire/Red & Wood/Brown. I’m going to complete 1000 stitches (hopefully!) in The Guardian, as all the elements are present in this design.

Have a good week!

WIP Wednesday #247

Posted in cross stitch, stitch from stash, Teresa Wentzler by

Morning everyone! First things first – happy birthday to my Melbournite brother Rob x

Last week’s challenge was up to 1000 stitches on something that involved collecting a dragon egg. I chose my Teresa Wentzler kit, The Guardian, & I was so happy to see the cliffs emerge. The softer, distant cliffs are half-stitch, so I ended up with over 650 of those (226 “real” stitches) while the nearer cliff is full cross using the same blends. I do wonder if TW would use the same blends now that DMC has expanded so much more than it was in 2000 (the copyright date for this kit)?

This week’s challenge is one point for every 100 stitches, again up to 1000, on your favourite WIP. I’m breaking away from one of the Ultimate challenges to use Mermaid of Atlantis. I do love how this is working up. The 28ct Lugana fabric is a mystery one (I can’t find the label, eep, but I think it’s a Silkweaver) but I love the mottled effect.

Have a good week!

05/06 WIP (short weeks confuse me) #247

Posted in cross stitch, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, stitch from stash by

Morning everyone! Its post a three-day-weekend (Happy Birthday Your Majesty) and I didn’t get as much stitching done as I would have hoped – we spent most of the weekend cleaning my MIL’s old house and prepping it for sale – with my SIL conspicuously absent. With over three quarters of the house and outside done, our little family is walking away. Done with the frustration around the no-show, and demands, and oh-I’m-a-victim mentality. It’s very, very toxic.

Onto the good stuff – most of us are well. Now that we can focus on our house, I’m sure the environment will improve (it’s hard to be positive and rest when all you can see is things left undone). M & Z are doing well at school; B actually went to his course for a couple of days (motivation is lacking in this one) but picked up an extra day of work) & L is looking to move back home (eep! But at least she cooks).

20190603_152052.jpgSo over Friday/Saturday/Sunday, I would have been lucky to put in 100 stitches on Mermaid of Atlantis. I had knocked out the 300 for the penalty homework but was also hoping to complete another Ultimate challenge but I only achieved that binge-watching Midsomer Murders yesterday afternoon. I ended up frogging the GAST that I had intended to carry over to her tail and am going back to the charted colours. It was just too bright, and too hard to control the light-over-scales effect.

This week’s challenge is to collect the dragon egg (the first task in Goblet). We could choose any piece, as long as we could make up a story about how it ties in. Mine is super simple! I’m using The Guardian, by Theresa Wentzler, which has a golden dragon guarding a castle. Because as any Anne McCaffrey reader knows, before you get a dragon egg, you need a golden dragon queen! Don’t even think of the chicken/egg question Elizabeth!! There’s a point for every 100 stitches, up to 10 points. I intend to get them all.

May WIPocalypse

Posted in cross stitch, goals, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Smalls SAL, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, Teresa Wentzler, WIPocalypse by

Hello everyone! I hope you’re well. WIPocalypse is the monthly check-in SAL hosted by Measi on her blog, and via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers! Click on the icon to the right to learn more.

May Goals:

  • Stitch Hello April AND Hello May AND Hello June APRIL DONE
  • Continue working on Coffee Quaker daily NOPE
  • Finish the second fairy in Shakespeare’s Fairies NOPE
  • Knock off a couple more “ultimate” stitch challenges NOPE

Thru May, with the upheaval at home (and having to tell Mase what is happening with Grandma) I have been very narrow-focussed on #magicalstitches work. Because of this, most of the extra credit Year 4 work is completed (9 of the 11 at the time of writing), every weekly task has been knocked off & I’m working on some Ultimate goals – thanks to my housemates, there’s at least 3 in Mermaid of Atlantis alone.

In May, I’ve completed the following stitch numbers (honestly, these are helping me go wow, look what I can do!)

  • Floral Cat (stitching finish) 442 stitches
  • We’re All Mad biscornu (also a stitching finish) 831 stitches
  • Hello April (also a stitching finish) 511 stitches
  • Mermaid of Atlantis (new start) 2640 stitches
  • Four Seasons of NZ 659 stitches
  • The Guardian (new start!) 524 stitches
  • Shakespeare’s Fairies 130 stitches
  • Fairy Idyll 431 stitches
  • Raven Queen 371 stitches (& I hated them all)

At the time of posting, this is 6539 stitches for the month.

June Goals:

  • WIPocalypse One-A-Day with Coffee Quaker (also one of my remaining EC tasks of 500 stitches on a geometric)
  • Hello May & Hello June
  • Celtic Winter (the last EC task of 500 stitches)
  • Don’t spend!

Question of the Month: Where do you love to shop for stash? I facetiously answered this on FB as anywhere the staff are skilled at diverting my partner/children’s attention from my shopping. This is mostly true, however! Or I time it to visit Ribbon Rose when I have to go to our Panmure branches.

SFS is about to roll over once June is done. Currently I am $7.20 in the red; however by simply not buying anything in June I’ll finish in the positive! I do actually have enough calling to me in any case.

WIP Wednesday #245

Posted in cross stitch, family, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, stitch from stash, stitching patterns by

Morning! Has it really been only a week? It feels sooo much longer, but that is what being sick does to you. I have a cold, so can’t go around mum for a few days. Plodding along at work. Seriously disappointed in this last season of Thrones. Really enjoyed binge watching the ITV series, The Bay, with Louise. Cleaning thru 40+ years of stuff the MIL has kept (business records from 1984, anyone?). Telling Mase what is happening with Grandma, then having a stroppy child as his aunt told him I’m exaggerating. What? Not helpful. And this is why she’s not the testamentary guardian, Lou is.

Last week’s #magicalstitches challenge was completed on Sunday, my time. It was hard to get thru Raven Queen, much easier on Fairy Idyll (32ct linen vs 28ct Lugana), & then I used Fairy Idyll for the pop-up challenge, so there’s 400 stitches in her, not 350.

This week’s challenge has gone in my “too hard” basket so I am stitching the penalty – 400 stitches on a WIP of my choice. I’ve gone super-simple, and chosen my friend Jenny (home*stitch*ness on Etsy, FB, IG and featured in multiple World of Cross Stitching magazines) & her Four Seasons in New Zealand. There are companion pieces for the UK, Australia, Canada & the States. Super cute. Progress shots next week!

WIP Wednesday #244

Posted in books, cross stitch, family, goals, grateful, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, Week in the Life by

20190513_134524Morning! Our week has been pretty good – MIL is back home (on oxygen permanently) but is more able to participate in family life, is great with her friends and we had a lovely Mother’s Day dinner (I cooked, but I left the cleaning J). Ms Louise chose flowers for both of us & did a lovely, slightly unconventional, job of it.

20190510_081046Mase had Book Week and on Friday, dressed as Calvin and Tiggr “dressed” as Hobbes. Yep, we’re all about the classics in our house! On the redeeming front, Zac is chosing to read & study To Kill a Mockingbird.

On stitching, I finished the second part of the biscornu but haven’t FFO’d it (insert chicken noises here). I did start another Mirabilia – Mermaid of Atlantis – and am planning to use this for most of the #magicalstitches extra credit challenges for the Goblet of Fire May/June months. I started with #2, as the shell chandelier/light was approved as something that might be at a fancy ball AND it was the middle of the top; now I’m working on task #1 (500 on something that could be found in the lake) with the fish, and I’m about 70 stitches off completing that challenge (I need to take an update photo), and combined with task #10 (200 stitches on a piece that has something that lays eggs) I’m working on the border, on the theory that fish lay eggs. That’s not quite at the half-way mark. Like a lot of people, I’m very motivated at the start of a piece!

This week’s challenge is WIP list based again – and as I have less than 20 WIPS, I’m allocated to option 2, 350 stitches each on WIP #1 & #7. Seven is actually the biscornu, so I have approval to jump the line to #8, which just so happens to be Raven Queen. Progress shots next week!

April WIPocalypse

Posted in cross stitch, goals, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Smalls SAL, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, Teresa Wentzler, WIPocalypse by

Hello everyone! I hope you’re well. WIPocalypse is the monthly check-in SAL hosted by Measi on her blog, and via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers! Click on the icon to the right to learn more.

April Goals:

  • Use Genoa & Wales for Extra Credit piece (500 stitches) NOPE – used Nantucket Rose instead
  • Complete first fairy in Shakespeare’s Fairies YEP
  • Stitch Hello April AND Hello May NOPE
  • Work on Coffee Quaker every day in April ALMOST

 

While I didn’t get to many goals (I’ve gone right off the Sandra Santas, surprisingly) I did hit nearly every April #magicalstitches challenge and got a lot of progress in on various pieces. There’s over 800 more in Nantucket Rose (and I reached the far side, so this is as wide as it gets) and 2800 plus in Shakespeare’s Fairies. I also started Cloudsfactory Labyrinth and the Mill Hill Celestial Sleigh. That one’s been a PITA as the kit was missing some items, so substitution city. First time I’ve ever been disappointed in a MH kit.

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May Goals:

  • Stitch Hello April AND Hello May AND Hello June
  • Continue working on Coffee Quaker daily
  • Finish the second fairy in Shakespeare’s Fairies
  • Knock off a couple more “ultimate” stitch challenges

 

April 28 – Talk to us about your longest-running WIP or UFO. Mine would be the Teresa Wentzler Tapestry Cat design. I brought it for myself as a Christmas present back in 2003, when I was working at Air New Zealand. I vastly underestimated the number of quarter stitches and back stitch, and while I own a lot of TW charts, I’ve only ever completed Misty, one of the Rocking Horses! I’ve also started Noah’s Ark, and stopped at the over one. Now that I’ve completed Arezzo over one, I think I will be able to press on with the Ark at least. TC? Well, he’s nearly done, probably only another 2500 stitches in him, and I’d estimate the border is about at the quarter-way mark. There’s a LOT of backstitch.

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SFS is still in the red, thanks to a market find. Oh, well. Hopefully some of the May challenges will lead to finishes so I can claim!

WIP Wednesday #241

Posted in cross stitch, goals, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Smalls SAL, stitch from stash, stitching patterns by

Hello everyone! My resolve for May is to be not as inwardly focussed, so you should see a bit more of me. These last few months have been emotionally heavy, and with the MIL now having a hospice referral, it’s going to get a lot worse before healing starts. I still haven’t quite worked out how to present my WIP Wednesday, as my stitchy focus is #magicalstitches which runs Monday to Sunday, but we’ll see what happens.

My “one a day” piece for April has been Coffee Quaker. Five motifs are now complete and I could be as much as 1/6th thru. No rush on this one anyway. Plus it’s over one.

20190420_123721.jpgLast week there were two challenges in #magicalstitches. One was “select a part” & for myself, rather than visit ten stores in Hogsmeade and do 100 stitches/short story on what I “brought”, I chose to visit one shop. I’m focusing on the huge boring-ish blocks of colour in Shakespeare’s Fairies, as it’s harder to go off track while life distracts me. I made up some story that I was poor, as my Muggle parents were intimidated at Gringots and asked for 10 knuts instead of galleons, and put in 1022 stitches in at Gladrags Wizardwear.

20190419_195233.jpgThere was also a Full Moon pop-up (for Remus Lupin). 30 stitches on dark (side of the moon), 30 on light (the side we see) and 30 on animal. I ended up doing 143 overall (instead of leaving threads hanging) on the Cloudsfactory We’re All Mad Here biscornu. That cat is creepy.

This week I’m stitching the nominated option, no penalty stitches. 300 on a tree/plant for the Whomping Willow, and 300 on a building for the Secret Room. I’m done already there with a start to the conifer in Fairy Idyll, and working on the column/balustrade for Raven Queen.

One thing to be said for this – it’s quite creative in the themes fitting into the book, I’m definitely varying what I am working on and I think that right now, there’s just the one WIP I haven’t pulled out to fit a challenge. I’m not beating myself up for that, and if I don’t get to a challenge target, that’s OK to. I’m enjoying what I am working on!

March WIPocalypse

Posted in cross stitch, embroidery, goals, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, round robin, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, WIPocalypse by
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a visit to Homestead Framers…

Hello everyone! I hope you’re well. WIPocalypse is the monthly check-in SAL hosted by Measi on her blog, and via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers! Click on the icon to the right to learn more.

March Goals

  • Bead & FFO Genoa Santa’s NOPE
  • Complete stitching on Wales Santa’s NOPE
  • Stitch & FFO Hello There April NOPE
  • Complete & FFO Kiwi 10 Cents FINISHED
  • Complete first fairy in Shakespeare’s Fairies ALMOST!
  • Work on Arezzo FINISHED

With most of my stitching working around the School of Magical Stitches group challenges, I haven’t worked on Shakespeare’s Fairies as much as I would have hoped in Feb. But, I have several starts, two finishes (one of which I am so, so stoked to get done), dropped three off to the framers & there are a few closer to a finish. Bonus points given that one of my “homework” pieces will double as my SIL’s present, as she loves cats.

Arezzo doubled as both my WIPocalypse “stitch every day” piece and for 1000 stitches of an Ultimate Challenge. I worked on her for 24 of the 25 days (the 25th was the day I finished) & honestly, don’t know why I didn’t finish her sooner. She’s so pretty & delicate that I am considering which Mira I will stitch over one next! But as I started Coffee Quaker over one, that won’t be for a while.

April Goals:

  • Use Genoa & Wales for Extra Credit piece (500 stitches)
  • Complete first fairy in Shakespeare’s Fairies
  • Stitch Hello April AND Hello May
  • Work on Quaker Coffee every day in April

Question of the month: What newer designers and product creators (fabric or floss dyeing, etc) out there have you discovered and recommend? I do recommend (new to me, anyway) Sirious Stitches & KiwiXCrossing designers, purely for the ease of their patterns (both are Etsy); and for fabric I always recommend Catherine at Countrystitch Fabrics – her shop is not new, but the range is ever expanding, the website is fantastic, service is great AND if you want to get an idea of the fabric/design combo, she’s listed on the Fabric Viewer website.

When it comes to Stitch From Stash, I’m a little bit in the red. This would fix with no spend/no finishes in April, but I got a wee bonus so had a binge. Mani di Donna’s Blue Quaker Sewing Basket, Mirabilia’s Mermaid of Atlantis (plus Waterlillies threads) and two Mill Hill kits, the Celestial Sleigh and Princess Carriage. I’ll show pictures as I work on them.

Mar-19
Country Stitch Fabrics Cloudburst -18.11
Country Stitch Fabrics Bourbon -17.39
Floral Cat (Etsy) -5.25
Spotlight DMC*12 -22.80
Spotlight Lugana FQ -15.00
123Stitch Binge -97.76
SamSarah Need to Read 4.42
KiwiXCrossing 10 Cent 13.92
Arezzo Conversion (over one) 32.44
Rollover + Budget $107.01
Total Available Budget -$18.52