Harvest Moon WIPocalypse

Posted in cross stitch, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, round robin, WIPocalypse by paulainauckland

Mase took these photos last night, as we headed down the North Western motorway to pick up Dad. A cell phone can’t capture the sheer size and the colour – no wonder the American Indians & Maori (among others) called this a Harvest Moon.

My September has been all about my round robin prep. This was a love/hate relationship for sure and I AM NEVER USING DMC SATINS AGAIN. Until next time. However I am finished with the frames & thinking that they do look amazing – even if I had to dig in my ORT jar to finish the top leg of the last 20 or so stitches! Playing thread chicken is not as fun as you might think.

I’ve also finalised my layout, and the lovely Elizabeth has come to my rescue and has ordered Bluebeard’s Princess mermaid for me (www.stitchnz.co.nz) so while I may have to post the intended portion on the FB group, I will have it in time for someone else to stitch. Just not Mel in Australia – but there’s four others for her to choose from. My start is the Queen Mermaid – but I’m thinking about adapting her “purse” to either a treasure box (Atlantis-type) or a shell, like this one I found on Pinterest:

I am looking forward to Christmas 2017 when I should get this one back! First posting isn’t for 3 weeks, so Queenie will be done by then.

*~~~~*~~~~~~*

Question of the Month

Tell us a story about the journey you took through one of your completed pieces.

*~~~~*~~~~~~*

This is one of my favourites – the first I completed and had framed intending to keep! Which was a Big Deal, as it marked 10 years of stitching history. This is Bran’s birth sampler, the Alma Lynne Noah’s Ark Collector. I still have the chart…but I can’t find it in online stores, sorry, so it must be OOP.

It’s the first that I re-charted portions on – I added personalisation to include Bran’s name, DOB. I used Kreinik for the first time (the lightning bolt) and I gave myself permission to stop angsting over those French knots. Beads all the way! This hangs in our hallway and even at 16, B still appreciates it. There’s true love for you!

22Jul2016

July WIPocalypse Check In

Posted in cross stitch, WIPocalypse by paulainauckland

Wow – July’s full moon has been beautiful. I’ve seen quite a bit, as I drive in the dark to the base pool.

I have got thru 3 rotations of stitching this month; a chunk of Persephone, over the mental hump of Afternoon in London and up to Maleficent in Raven Queen’s first page. Just quietly, I’m impressed I stayed disciplined enough to stick to those 3 at home.

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Now I missed the June check-in – Topic: Do you find yourself more productive with stitching in summer or winter? I am finding I am about the same this year, altho we’re really early into Winter down here. Making the commitment to record my projects and using Instagram has stopped a lot of my usual hibernation.

July – Topic: (two options) If you are participating in the Olympic Challenge, tell us about your plans – which type of challenge you’ve selected, the pieces you’ll be stitching on, etc. If you are not participating in the challenge, tell us how this year’s stitching is going for you so far, and if you’re meeting your stitching goals so far for the year. Having given up FB, I’m not participating in any challenges or SALs. This year was all about taking a breath, altho I did commit to “16 in 2016” finish count.

Mirabilia 2004 Cherub
Chinese Year of the Monkey ornie
Nora Corbett Lily of the Valley (my last round robin contribution for that round)
Noel Mini Sampler ornie
Lizzie Kate Up in the Treetops ornie
Hands On Design Plenty – FFO!
Mill Hill Fireflies – FFO!
Pickle Barrel Noel ornie
Cross Stitcher Bunny wooden ornie

That’s nine finishes, and none will take much to FFO really apart from sending the cherub out to the framers. I’m OK with not having a big design finished in 2016, altho I do suspect I will finish Mermaids of the Deep Blue. And if all goes to plan this week, I will finish stitching the 4th of the Mill Hill ornaments and bead all four before next Friday.

26Apr2016

April WIPocalypse

Posted in cross stitch, family, grateful, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Smalls SAL, WIPocalypse by paulainauckland

Another full moon – now that I am in the habit of looking for the moon I’m much more aware of the way the seasons are turning and the effect it is having on the world around me. My driveway is bordered with liriope (see this post) and the lilac flower stems have finally gone. There’s little colour left in my garden except the rosy red apples – I must go pick those tonight.

Oh, and after we dropped Lou at her flat last night, we paused in our drive to look at the stars. Yesterday was ANZAC Day so it was perfect to see the Southern Cross in all its glory, and think of the sacrifice made by men and boys half a world away a century ago. Humbling. Grateful. Relieved. Patriotic. All those feels. So happy the flag did not change.

Anyhoo, WIPocalypse. This is a full-moon check-in hosted by Melissa over at her blog, Measi’s Musings (you can link to it anytime with the image on my sidebar). I haven’t had much stitching time this month, but I do have some progress on my major pieces. I still won’t have a Small for this month tho unless I pull finger, but I’d forgotten how eye-straining it can be to stitch on darker fabrics (in this case, a 28ct Elixar Navy). Second Mermaid has some more hair, and Persephone has most of the beading done in the top half. Last night I worked on her arm – I stitch right to left and I didn’t want to risk getting oils on her white dress portions if I lean over to do that arm, so it’s nearly done. I did run out of the Nymo thread – that bobbin didn’t last long enough so I’ll have to get some more.

This months’ question: What do you listen to while stitching? (via Jo) I have a mix of things. Easy, non-thinking TV or movies (my darling brought me a case which is fixed to my lap stand, so I can mount my phone in the perfect spot when streaming), podcasts or even the radio. I don’t often listen to audio books unless it’s something I’ve read, like Harry Potter, Roald Dahl or Winnie the Pooh (I often have company while stitching).

Podcasts include (I use Podcast Addict, an android app that takes from iTunes and RSS feeds, and can include video subscriptions):

Around the Table
Elise Gets Crafty
Hope*Writers (I liked the earlier variant of this podcast, it remains to be seen if I continue to subscribe)
No Such Thing as a Fish (the QI researchers, funny but not suitable for under 13’s)
Sorta Awesome
The Charged Life (a new rec, I haven’t started listening)
The Simple Show (freaking awesome)
What Should I Read Next (the modern mrs darcy out loud).

I also watch FlossTube (stitch vids on YouTube). Currently loving:

Ms OhSewCrafty
Carolyn Mazzeo
Eclectic Possesions
Donna Murray
Pyrex Stitcher
lindystitches (funny)
CoffeeStitcher
Stitching Mae
Teresa Little Stitcher
The Evergreen Needle
The Queen of Starts (hello Kate)
The Stash Queen (hello Katy)
and many, many more

What do you do? Do you have any podcast or Netflix recs for me?

24Mar2016

March WIPocalypse

Posted in cross stitch, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, WIPocalypse by paulainauckland

I haven’t had as much stitching time this month as I would have liked – it’s the 24th here in NZ and I’ve had ten days so far without anything done. We opened two new stores (one of each brand) at Westgate, with the first trading day yesterday, which was tiring but fun; & I’ve had two migraines to top it off.

London stopped being fun, so it went away just shy of the half-way point (I did finish Buckingham Palace & the tree leaves first, but I forgot to take the photo):

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and then instead of Mermaids, which was next in my rotation, I thought I’d get Persephone’s jellyfish done. I’ve actually moved much, much further along than that & I’m really pleased with how the conversion is working out!

The question for the month is: Do you use hoops, stretcher bars, lap stands or Q snap frames and why? (viaCathieJ) Well I don’t use hoops anymore (but that’s OK as Mase does). I was stitching in hand but with the issues last year I need to use a two-hand method to get stuff done, so I now have two stands. One is a huge stretcher bar stand, which currently has Persephone; and the other is the lap/table stand Andie gave me, which has whatever other project on it. Persephone’s about 3 inches too wide for the lap stand bars that were supplied, but I think I’ll order some longer bars as it can take them without modifications. I supposed the good thing about the bigger stand is that it displays a far bigger working space than the lap stand, but it’s not very portable at all!

25Feb2016

February WIPocalypse

Posted in cross stitch, grateful, me, WIPocalypse by paulainauckland

WIPocalypse is hosted by Mel at her blog http://measi.net/measiblog/ – or you can click on the icon on the right 🙂

Question of the Month: If you have any of your pieces on display in your home which attracts the most plaudits?

I don’t actually have anything of my own on permanent display at home, just the ones I pull out at Christmas for the tree. I have lots waiting to be framed, and ornies made for me in exchanges, but the pieces I have had framed are displayed in other people’s houses. All anyone can see in my house is whichever WIP is currently on the scroll frames! Right now, that’s Persephone and my new start, Afternoon in London by Country Cottage Needleworks. This is after two evenings:

363e59ad9083b6f297924642bd6ec158 At work I am teaching Kimberley to stitch! Her grandma loves pigs, but is sadly very ill and heading to hospice soon. Kim wanted to do something to honour her grandma – learn a craft her grandma loves to make something very personal. She chose this wee design & I kitted it up for her. We had a session on Tuesday and I had multiple people tell me how cute it was to see her working away during her breaks! Love sharing life skills.

As for myself, I had a follow up with the GP yesterday, as I’m in week 3 of this low level headache. Something to *woot!* about – my iron levels are 36. That’s thirty-freaking-six, peeps. It’s not been that high since I was a newbie teenager working at MedLab. And I am now trialling Nortriptyline on a half-dose as a preventer. Apparently it’s an anti-depressant/stop-smoking agent in full dose 25mg – but I’m on the baby 10mg. I took it at 8pm and was snoring by 9pm. This morning I woke at 2, went to the bathroom then straight back to sleep. No anxious dreams. I do feel a little hung-over which apparently is a side-effect for a week or so but even that is less than the headache. Things look good, today!

I have lots and lots of smalls to share later on in the week too. Happy today.

25Jan2016

January WIPocalypse

Posted in 16 in 2016, conversion details, cross stitch, freebies, goals, grateful, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Teresa Wentzler, WIPocalypse by paulainauckland

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!

6Jan2016

December WIPocalypse – the Recap Edition

Posted in 16 in 2016, cross stitch, WIPocalypse by paulainauckland

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!

26Nov2015

November WIPocalypse

Posted in cross stitch, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, round robin, stitching patterns, Teresa Wentzler, WIPocalypse by paulainauckland

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!

28Oct2015

WIP Wednesday, WIPocalypse with Winners

Posted in cross stitch, Mirabilia, WIPocalypse by paulainauckland

Hmmm – how was that for alliteration?!

Let’s start at the top. WIP Wednesday is post day this week- April’s piece is done and will be off in the post to Crafty Rahenna today. I chose Christmas Elegance and went thru HEAPS of beads.

April’s piece – only Rahenna & Lenna to go and it looks gorgeous.

Christmas Elegance

I’m not sure what I will pick up next – I have decided to frog Roses of Provence as I simply can’t cope with the uneveness of linen & so I’ll sell or swap that fabric. So there’s Persephone in progress or I have some 25ct Lugana for some Christmas ornaments & the bookmarks. That should give my eyes a rest – I was in hospital on Saturday hooked up to the good drugs for the migraine & while the optometrist says my prescription hasn’t changed enough to warrant a change of glasses I think I’ll get that double checked.

Then we’re up to WIPocalypse. This month’s question was around special threads and being scared to use. Mine would be Whisper – I hear it’s awful to stitch with. I haven’t even brought any, and chose to stitch the reindeer tails in B5200! Eventually I’ll get some and test but I can buy two packs of beads, six skeins of DMC or 1.5 rolls of Kreinik or a skein of Waterlillies for the same price, so right now I don’t think it’s all that important.

Last night I stopped at the top of Metcalfe and took the shot. Sorry this is with my cell but the moon was gorgeous. Mase said it looked like a cheese wheel, Z was slightly more poetic and said it looked like paper on fire.

And now we have winners! Thank you for the feedback. I am grateful.

Snippets:

1	Fawn	https://stitchtherapyblog.wordpress.com/
2	eadouglas	http://douglust.com/
3	Ginny	https://mytimestitching.wordpress.com/

Yes – three winners! Fawn & Douglust will be sent the snippets, and Ginny, I hope you’ll love Travelling Bunny. He got returned to me recently after some time in the ether but I’ll send him on complete with some goodies and the rules. I think you’ll love him. I posted about him HERE

and for the bookmark? I’ll be making TWO. Congrats to

1	Jenna	Austens
2	KerryCan	Mysteries

please email me at paulainauckland(AT)gmail(DOT)com with your postal details!

29Sep2015

WIPocalypse, October Goals & Contest Reminder

Posted in cross stitch, round robin, WIPocalypse by paulainauckland

Crap – this is a lot for one post!

This 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.

I’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.

Of 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!

sewscrapmuse

irregular updates on family life, books & cross stitch. Lots & lots of cross stitch.

Tag Archives: WIPocalypse