Tag Archives: Persephone

WIP Wednesday

Posted in cross stitch, Mirabilia by

Woo hoo! I actually have some WIP progress to share with y’all. It’s taken four days but I have nearly finished beading the wallpaper and hair portion of Persephone. I am not used to back-stitching a Mira’s skin with two strands, but it was definitely right to do:

she looks so pretty!

she looks so pretty!

The only thing I am not happy about is that the Mill Hill beads 82023 (the long brown tubes) take up FIVE spaces not the four as charted. You can clearly see the issue in this shot where the one on the right leans, because the end is on a stitch, & the light bounces off it differently:

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I don’t know what to do about it; I may not notice in a year or so & I can adjust my stitching for the bodice etc where these bugle beads will next appear. I don’t really want to re-stitch but given that I am now determined to frog those hands on Stargazer that annoy me, it means that I probably will notice! What do you think?

Monday, marvelous Monday

Posted in cross stitch, grateful, Mirabilia, work by

I am pretty happy this morning, even tho I am at work! I did no computer work over the weekend (yesterday’s post was via they Swype keyboard on my phone) and go into the week relatively pain-free. The steering wheel is causing a bit of grief & I don’t really like typing or mousework but ten minute bursts will be fine.

i managed 80-odd beads over the weekend. Slow progress, but it’s still progress. I went back & filled in the missing one after this photo.

Persephone as at 8th November

Persephone as at 8th November

Having that stand is awesome.

Also, the full Skid Row crew is at work today. I’ve already lol’d and just about spat my breakfast out at one point. Laughter really is the best. Claire’s version of the Lizzie*Kate best describes my workmates:

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WIPocalypse, October Goals & Contest Reminder

Posted in cross stitch, round robin, WIPocalypse by

Crap – this is a lot for one post!

20150928_205449This full moon is beautiful! Not a “blood moon” here in the Southern Hemisphere, but as Auckland skies were clearing, I got some good shots even with my Galaxy S3 phone.

With personal things there was no real WIPocalypse check-in last month, so here’s a couple of updates.

August 29 – Topic:  Pick one of the WIP pieces you’ve stitched on this month, and tell us about your stitching journey with the piece.

IMG_20150929_080302I’ve stitched on quite a few things this past month. I finished Mediterranean Mermaid, and worked on two round robins from a crashed & burned RR – Andrea’s gingerbread house and Keely’s Christmas angel. Andie in turn fixed my boo-boo in the Toy Story birth sampler! I have three more to work on this month as well as finishing Keely’s piece, which I hope to do this week, as I have Thursday/Friday off. Daylight savings has also kicked in which means more light at night and BBQs – Simon is cooking more which takes a load off.

20150928_215907Of my own pieces, I worked on Persephone. With the frustrations involved in the RR I needed to do something that was MINE, and I’ve gone past where I wanted to get too – the back wall paper is completed, and last night her pomegranate/leaves/stem was done. I did make a small mistake in one leaf, and decided to work around it. I don’t think anyone else will be able to tell where I went wrong. She’s looking as rustic as I wanted to, with the slightly coarse fabric – I don’t think it’s what it was labelled as! – and will be a good piece to take into the next year.

Yes, I’m thinking of 2016 already! I joined the FB “16 in 16” group, which is not about new starts but about finishing the WIPs that I do have. Currently this is very small – my over-one Arezzo, Persephone, a freebie Angel, the Toy Story piece that is with Andie, the TW Tapestry Cat and TW Noah’s Ark.

I think I’ve just given myself grace to make a few new starts 🙂

September 28 – Topic:  Where do you buy most of your stitching supplies?

I get most of mine through either Ribbon Rose in Ellerslie (the other side of Auckland, so a minimum 40 min travel time one way), through Elizabeth at http://www.stitchnz.co.nz, running to the DMC stand at the local Spotlight and I have tried Amanda’s Stitching Menagerie. I’m reasonably loyal & go where the service is. I did buy some kitted up stash recently so don’t really have a need to shop right now. Don’t worry, I’m perfectly well and I’m sure I’ll invent something!

So while I “adult” for a little bit, the October goals are:

  • Print out the last 10 days before Christmas & journal to complete my December Daily for 2014
  • Complete my portion on Keely’s RR (Christmas Angels) – this is the one that Z didn’t even open L
  • Complete my portion on Lisa’s RR (Tattie Teddy)
  • Complete my portion on April’s RR (Mira – my pick of one that speaks to me, & I’m thinking a reverse Provence Roses will fit well)
  • Complete my portion on Kathryn’s RR (flower LOVE letters)
  • And if all that’s done, make a start to Raven Queen

Also please don’t forget to enter my blog giveaway!  Check it out HERE and make a comment – entries are open until next WIPocalypse!

WIP Wednesday

Posted in cross stitch, Mirabilia, round robin, steptember 2015 by

Well for today I don’t have much to show at all. I managed a few days on the wallpaper of Persephone (while bingeing on SOA). The left top corner now only needs the beads, which I will do much, much later. It’s a carrot to keep stitching along, especially as I wasn’t sure about doing the background initially.

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Then one of the NZ round robins I am organising went to custard. I have picked up the two pieces that were at one person’s house and now have THREE robins I’m stitching in. Luckily I don’t have the latest Mira one yet (probably next week) but the person hadn’t stitched much on the other pieces – one is due to be posted next Friday (not even opened!) and the other was a couple of weeks ago. Part of the issue was out of her control but I’m still disappointed.

I’ve decided to work on Andi’s piece this week (in between work, rep footy and walking) – it’s a Shannon Wasilieff piece called Gingerbread Houses. It’s available in her etsy store. I found this image on Google from another blog (mylifeisinstitches.blogspot.com which now looks like it’s been abandoned).

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I’m going to start the top left house & I’ll probably ignore the border – but the goal is to get a house done quick smart and off to Kathryn as soon as I can!

WIP Wednesday

Posted in me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, round robin, stitching patterns, Teresa Wentzler by

I’m getting back on track! I’ve stitched every night from Sunday thru to Tuesday and feel like I’ve achieved a level of nirvana.

TC has gone away again. There is just so much exciting stuff on the telly that I found I was constantly frogging as I want paying attention. However I did get over 1000 stitches in a very short space of time. Roll on summer and the cricket!

While I’m waiting on the next Mira RR piece to arrive, I’m working on Persephone. This is where I started again on Monday:

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And this is last night:

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Lots of counting and recounting (waterlillies are so expensive here) but I can stitch and watch New Zealand beat Australia AND Jamaica at the netball with minimal frogging!

I’m also now on instagram. Follow @paulainauckland if you want to see daily updates or those little bits of my life! X

WIP Wednesday

Posted in grateful, league, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, round robin, stitching patterns by

I’ve had to frog a bit (missed two lines of one colour) but Persephone is marching along nicely now that I’ve finished the confetti that makes up her hair. This is after six stitching nights:

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The other piece is Debbie’s RR, with Jacqui’s addition being the Moonlight Laguna mermaid. I am thinking I’ll stitch a portion of Mediterranean Mermaid, as I have that kitted up as my hospital WIP.

I also joined in another FB group today – surely I must be hitting some kind of threshold soon! This one is for the Christmas Couriers (my Sleigh belongs to that group of patterns). Hopefully some inspiration to get more reindeer done! Or… Maybe I use them as the theme for my NZ RR?

Lastly here’s Mase at training tonight. He’s thriving in this group. And I laugh so much on Wednesday nights. It’s a great bunch of kids.

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June WIPocalypse and WIP Wednesday

Wow, WIPocalypse already! Time just seems to be flowing by. Sometimes I feel like I barely have time to breathe before diving into the next thing & I wish it would all just slow down a little.

Since the last WIPocalypse check-in, I’ve had some wins. Now seems like a good time to go over the May goals:

Nice to do’s:

  • Finish the stitching & beading on Mediterranean Mermaid DIDN’T PICK HER UP AT ALL
  • Sort out what my next big Mira will be STARTED THEN FROGGED ROSE OF SHARON; STARTED PERSEPHONE

So the June goals are:

  • Complete Ali’s April & May prompts for One Little Word
  • Print out the last 10 days before Christmas & journal to complete my December Daily for 2014
  • Complete my portion on Debbie’s RR (mermaids!) which will probably also double as my Small
  • Complete the hair portion of Persephone (it’s a lot of confetti, more than I anticipated)
  • Layout & complete my portion for the new New Zealand FB XS group RR (only four to a group, fast)
  • Complete Med Mermaid’s tail beading

Do you find yourself more productive with stitching in summer or winter? I’m about equal. In the summer I spend more time outdoors doing family stuff but I offset that against stitching while on the road (Si is one of those men, it’s my job to pack lunch/snacks and book the accommodation & find highlights on our route). In the winter there are always at least two nights a week that I don’t even think to pick up a needle due to exhaustion or mucking around with the kids’ training or a really good book. I binge watch recorded TV twice a week (my binges are pitiful, they amount to 2-3 episodes of whatever I’m loving right now) and stitch while watching.

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Today is also WIP Wednesday for me. Here’s my new start, Mirabilia’s Persephone. I had started Rose of Sharon, then frogged when I realised that the fabbie wasn’t going to be big enough. It will do for the NZ RR which I’m playing around with now. Thinking Mira (surprise!) with a horizontal layout, four heads divided with a peony tree in the centre. Or four reindeer, but I am stitching these anyway…oh, I don’t know! What do you think?