Very little stitching...

...has been done in the past couple of weeks, as first my son and then I got knocked out by the flu. During the worst of it, I didn't get out of pajamas for four days, and pretty much lived in bed or in the recliner. I'm still trying to get over the coughing part of it, but have once again joined the land of the living (and stitching!).

What stitching I have been able to complete since my last post has been on a model, so no pictures to share of that. However, yesterday I picked up my framed Gypsy Queen and I am just so in love with the finished piece:

I chose a sueded outer mat and a metallic inner mat, and the frame itself is brushed with a couple of colors found in the design:

I also had one of Nora's paintings framed, and I think it's stunning:

These two pieces have already joined my ever-growing guest room gallery:

I still haven't had the nerve (or the time) to start my HAED yet, but I now have another one that I'd really love to work on. A kind member of the 123Stitch MB had a giveaway for the winner's choice of a chart, and I won! My favorite artist there is Aimee Stewart, and she had recently released a chart called A Stitch in Time, which I fell in love with. I couldn't bring myself to buy it, since I hadn't even started the other one I already had kitted up, but winning it is a totally different thing!

I got the maximum color version, which uses 237 different colors; I am very tempted to kit this one up and start it before I start Foxglove Ball. However, before I do either I need to finish the model, so I guess I'd better get to work.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy weekend!

Wonderful retreat weekend!

This past weekend was the fourth annual Mirabilia Minions Retreat, and it was such a great weekend! I have been in love with Mirabilia patterns since I saw my first one back in about 1996, and it is so amazing to get together with like-minded people. This year there were a total of 166 finished pieces in display, which is almost overwhelming; so much beauty anywhere you looked in the room.

I took Blossom Collector along with me, and did manage to get quite a bit done on her:

Now she just needs her legs, some "swirls" and beads; it shouldn't take too long, but a new model came in just before the retreat so I'm going to work on that for a while. Happily, it's a relatively small pattern, so I'm hoping it will only take three or four weeks to complete.

Nora has designed a new Mirabilia free pattern, which will be released by Wichelt at some point in the future. As a retreat attendee, I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy, along with the silks and beads needed for it:

I'm thinking I'll stitch her up after I finish Blossom, unless the new Mira being released in four days calls to me to start it first. I also have now received all three parts of the Wherefore Art Thou design, as well as the over-dyed threads...I will never live long enough to stitch all the Miras that I want to!

I won a door prize as well, a cute little bobbin needle minder and a pretty needle threader:

As in previous years, Nora brought along some paintings, which were sold by silent auction. Here are the ones I came home with:

The two on the right are from an awesome "series" she did in which she used old newspaper advertisements that her mother drew in the 1970s, then painted over and around them; I absolutely love them!

Here's a picture of the amazing group of women (and Kenny!!) who attended this year (Nora is in black in the front bottom center):

I'm already looking forward to next year's retreat, where the theme is going to be Alice in Wonderland.

Now it's time to catch up on some sleep, get some chores done around the house and then get to work on the model. Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!