Not much to show

I've spent the majority of my stitching time on the model lately, with a few minor exceptions. I have now completed two small Just Nan designs for the SAL, and yesterday at stitch group I started on the third one. Of course, I can't share pictures of these until the SAL dates arrive!

The only stitching I can share is the border for the third installment of CCN's Frosty Forest:

Now if only the pattern would come in! I'm heading to my mom's for the weekend, and I have my fingers crossed that the pattern will arrive before I leave.

Norden Crafts has announced a Rosewood Manor mystery sampler SAL that starts in March, and posted the following picture:

These are the pieces that I was stitching last October/November. Very pretty color palette in this one!

I'll end with a couple of non-stitchy photos: this guy (girl?) was perched about a half mile from our house the other day. I saw him on the way to pick up my son from school, and he obligingly stayed long enough for me to get home, grab a camera and head back for these pics:

Isn't he just awe-inspiring?

Hope everyone is having a great stitchy week!

Preparing for the Just Nan SAL

As some of you may have noticed, there have been a couple of Just Nan additions to my blog lately. First was the 2014 SAL badge, which links to a page that explains the SAL guidelines. Secondly, I added a page of the JN patterns that I currently possess; there has been quite a bit of discussion in a JN group on FB about trying to compile a complete list of JN designs, so several members of the SAL are posting their personal lists to aid in that endeavor. I'm also adding a list of the SAL blog post dates, so I can make sure to post on the correct dates. Actually, I've already completed my piece for January, but I'm waiting to post until the 31st!

Here is a picture of a bunch of small JN designs, which I'll be choosing from during the SAL:

The piece I've already finished isn't pictured, while my next start was the Christmas Eve WhimZi (the small blue picture in approximately the middle of this picture). I had to take some comforters to the laundromat the other day, so this was a great little design to work on while there. I have decided to only work on smalls; between large models, my Mirabilia "Red" start and keeping up with CCN's Frosty Forest, I just don't have time for any larger ones right now.

Speaking of smalls, here is a picture of most of the JNs I have stitched over the years:

Here are the remaining pieces I've stitched:

High Hopes

Frosty Hopes

Witch Way

Christmas Hearts

Honeysuckle Rose

So, if you like Just Nan designs, stop back at the end of the month; I'll be posting sometime during the 31st. The design I stitched is pretty rare, so it's possible you've never seen it before. ;)

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

My New Year start

When I was going through my finishes from last year, I realized that this was the first year in quite a long time that I didn't have one large Mirabilia finish. I did have seven smaller Nora Corbett design finishes, but not one big one. So, what's a stitcher to do? Yep, you guessed it--start a large Mirabilia design right away!

I'd joined a FB group in which everyone starts a new Mira/NC design on January 1, and I decided to take one day off from the model to join in. My new Mira start is "Red", on Enchanted Fabrics' Rainforest Belfast linen:

I managed to finish her face and hair, but now I have to put her away until this model is done. I am so anxious to start on those gorgeous reds in her hood, but it probably won't be until the beginning of February that I can get back to her.

I hope everyone has a wonderful (and stitchy!) New Year!!

More Frosty Forest

Last Friday I picked up the second design in CCN's FF series, Snowy Deer, and last night I finished it up:

Once again I played with the floss colors; I went through my stash of Waterlilies and picked put some forest-y colors for the trees, and I also changed one of the deer to a darker shade than was called for. Here are the first two parts together:

I am already further ahead with this one than I am with Santa's Village, which started over a year ago!!

On a non-stitchy note, here is a rare picture of all four of my kitties, zoned out in the rays of the sun:

For those who celebrate it, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, and to everyone a terrific New Year!

Needle Fairy WIP

I'm currently working on a model for Karen, but it's going pretty slowly as this is a bad stitchy time of year for me. If I can't sit and stitch for at least two hours when I do sit down, then it hardly feels worth it, and with all of the holiday preparations, I don't have large chunks of time like that. As a result, I just don't do very much stitching. :(

Today was my monthly stitch group, though, so I did finally get some good time in. I took my Nora Corbett Needle Fairy WIP with me, and made some progress. Here she is before:

And after:

Well, it doesn't look like that much, now that I compare them...oh well, progress is progress!

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

What was I thinking...

...when I decided to stitch Santa's Village over-one on 28ct Tattersall linen?! Oh, that's right, I was thinking how cute it would be in the individual squares of the fabric. What I wasn't thinking was "Gee, I wonder if the fact that my eyes are now 46 years old (well, 45 when I started) will have any impact on this decision"!

Yep, for about the past year or two, I have noticed that it's getting harder to focus on close-up needlework. But I still have 11 houses to finish on this piece--ack! Well, since it was a Country Cottage Needleworks WIP-it Weekend on another blog I contribute to, I decided to pull this out and stitch a bit on it. Here is where I had left off almost a year ago:

And here is what it looks like after working on it Saturday and Sunday:

The "whole" piece so far (yeah, not even 1/6 of the way through!):

To give a bit of perspective, here it is next to Raccoon Cabin, which is stitched over-two on 32ct linen:

Sure, it's cute, but now I'm in a race to see whether my eyes completely fail me before I can get all 12 houses done--blech!

For now I really need to get back to the model I should have been working on. This is just a bad time of year for concentrating on large designs, because there is so much other stuff that needs to be done around the holidays.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

Frosty Forest start

For what will probably be the only time during the release of these nine designs, I am caught up! This is the newest multi-part design from Country Cottage Needleworks, and today I finished up Raccoon Cabin:

Here's a close-up of the cute little raccoon:

I did change several of the floss colors, so mine looks a bit different than the chart picture. I hope I can keep up with this one; there are 12 parts to Santa's Village, and I've only completed the first one!

I wanted to mention a giveaway being held on Missy's blog. I have bought several pairs of hard-to-find Gingher scissors from Missy; now she's giving away a pair of Cheetahs, which I don't have yet. Fingers crossed I can win a pair!

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

Faerie Autumn Glow is finished!

I finished this gorgeous lady last night, and I just loved every stitch using these amazing colors; it was like stitching flames! Only Nora could take purples and oranges and make them look like flowing folds in a dress:

I have now finished three of the four seasonal faeries, with just Summer Love left to stitch. However, I'm already behind on starting the model that Karen sent to me a couple of weeks ago, so it will be next year before I can start Summer. Oh well, that gives me time to think about converting some of the colors, as I just don't look forward to stitching so much green!

Here are the three completed faeries:

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week, and for those who celebrate it, a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Best stitchy mail EVER!!

I am so excited that I can hardly gather my thoughts enough to write, but I wanted to post some pictures as soon as possible. Today I received my finished Pretty Little Things box from Judy Odell, and there really aren't words to describe how much I love it! I took a bunch of pictures, though nothing can compare to seeing it in person:

Judy, when you read this, you are the BEST finisher ever, and I can't thank you enough for the beautiful job you did; this has immediately become one of my most prized possessions! Also, thank you to Nora Corbett, whose design "Pretty Little Things" looks like it was made for this piece.

And thanks to those who take the time to stop in and read my blog, especially those who leave such wonderful comments. The only thing better than stitching is being able to share it with others who understand the obsession!

Best colors ever!

I have stitched quite a few Mirabilia/Nora Corbett designs, and I have to say that Faerie Autumn Glow has to have my favorite combination of colors, yet! So rich and vibrant and happy--and I haven't even gotten to some of the brighter oranges in the lower dress:

I'm hoping to be able to work on her quite a bit this week, and then I'll be at the Door Co. stitching retreat this weekend, so hopefully she'll be done by early next week. Karen has sent the next model to be stitched, which is added incentive to finish this one up quickly!

I got a very exciting email from Judy Odell yesterday, saying that her busy season has passed and that she will be finishing my Pretty Little Things box in the next week or two. You can be sure that I will share her finish as soon as I have pictures!!

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!