I'm in love with Red

Mirabilia's Red, that is (although I love the color, as well!). The more I work on her, the more I appreciate the amount of detail in this design, and I can't wait to see more appear. Here is where I left off last night:

I really need to get some yard work done in the coming weeks, now that the temperature is finally warming up a bit, so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to work on her. I also still have to pick out a Just Nan design to work on for the April SAL, and I finally picked up part five of CCN's Frosty Forest, which I should stitch soon if I want it to be finished before part six is released. It's frustrating, because I just love watching her "come to life" a bit more each day.

On another Mirabilia related note, the Mira Retreat is rapidly approaching; it will be April 25-27, in Columbus, OH. I'm dreading the drive, as it looks like it will be close to nine hours, but I can't wait to see everyone. I'll definitely be taking Red with me, but might not get much stitching done that weekend, with all the sharing and talking that goes on.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

She's (and THEY'RE) Finished!!

The Kreinik I needed arrived yesterday, so Faerie Summer Love was finally finished last night:

The fabric is Shimmering Meadow Twilight, on opal Belfast, from Sugar Maple Fabrics. Here are a couple more pictures that show the pretty beads better:

What makes this finish even more exciting than usual is that she was the last of the four seasonal faeries that I wanted to stitch, so I now have the complete set finished. From left to right, Faerie Spring Fling, Faerie Summer Love, Faerie Autumn Glow and Faerie Winter Dream:

Sometime in the future, I'd like to send them to Jill Rensel for framing; guess I'd better start saving up!

Hope everyone continues to have a great stitchy week!

A Stitcher's Frustration!

I'm sure other stitchers can relate to this: last Thursday I would have been able to finish Faerie Summer Love, EXCEPT that I ran out of the Kreinik for the wings! And of course, there is none to be found locally, so I have to wait until today or tomorrow for some to arrive in the mail. :( Meanwhile, FSL looks like this:

Fingers crossed that the Kreinik arrives today!

In the meanwhile, I was able to assuage my frustration a bit by finally getting back to Mirabilia's Red, which I had started on New Year's Day, and then put away until now. Here is what I did the first day:

And here she is as of last night:

The fabric is Rainforest, on Belfast, from Enchanted Fabrics. I really think that if I HAD to choose a favorite Mirabilia, this one might be it. Hoping to get a lot more done this week.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

March Just Nan SAL

For my March entry in the JN SAL, I stitched up Reindeer Game, and finished it in its WhimZi frame. Here it is before framing:

And framed:

It's amazing what a difference a little frame can make. By the way, can you spot Rudolph?

Here is a picture of the three pieces I've completed for this SAL to date:

I haven't picked a design for April yet; there is a new JN ornament on its way to me as I type, called Lorelei Lamb, and it looks adorable, so that might be the one I stitch next. Stop in next month to find out. ;)

Hope everyone has a great stitchy weekend!

Gimme Summer Love

Okay, I know the lyrics are Gimme Some Lovin', but I just can't pass up a good play on words!

This past week I have been working on Faerie Summer Love, and making good progress; here she was a week ago:                                                                                                                          

And here she is as of last night:

The wings are done except for the Kreinik, so I should be able to finish them up today. My guys have just left for the weekend; I went and bought some DVDs yesterday, and I intend to burrow down into my craft room this weekend and stitch until I can't stitch anymore! I might even be able to finish FSL by Sunday night, though no promises. ;)

Hope everyone has a great stitchy weekend!

Caught up, and a new start

Last Saturday I was able to finish up part 4 of CCN's Frosty Forest, called Snowy Friends:

I am now caught up with the charts released so far--woo hoo! The next block has another cabin in it, and the cabin blocks are my favorites to work on. 

I was going to get back to Mirabilia's Red when I got caught up, but I decided to start Nora Corbett's Faerie Summer Love instead. It is smaller than Red, so it should stitch up fairly quickly, and then I will have all four of the seasonal faerie designs finished. Here is where I am as of last night:

Her dress is supposed to be green, but I just really didn't like all of the greens in the design, so I decided to convert the dress to a nice, bright berry color. So far, I'm really liking it. I also played with her face a bit, as I didn't like the way it was charted. She looks a little bit snotty now, but it was the best I could do with it! Here's the chart picture, for the sake of comparison:

Hope everyone has a great stitchy weekend!

Getting caught up

During the push to finish Bucklebury Sampler over the past few weeks, I put all other projects to the side. Now, I'm slowly getting caught up with the Just Nan SAL and CCN's Frosty Forest. Yesterday, I finished my piece for the March JN SAL post, and am deciding what I want to stitch for April; probably another Christmas WhimZi, to continue with my "theme".

This past Tuesday I drove up to The Stitching Bee and picked up part 4 of Frosty Forest, Snowy Friends. Then I came home and finished up part 3, Snowman's Cottage:

I've made a start on part 4, and am now further along than the following picture shows:

I'm hoping to finish up part 4 over the weekend. The next entry, part 5, will be another cabin design, which are my favorite blocks in this series. I am having a lot of fun playing with colors on this piece, too, so it looks a bit different than the original.

On a stitchy side note, I recently had my Faerie Autumn Glow published in the letters section of Cross Stitch Collection, issue 233:

Gotta love free floss!

Speaking of free, Nancy at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is giving away one of her gorgeous sampler designs to one lucky winner; click here, and it could be you! I've fallen in love with Forget Me Not, as the colors are just beautiful.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy weekend!

Rosewood Manor's Bucklebury Sampler

I finally finished this gorgeous piece last Wednesday night at about 11:30, and the next day it was in the mail to Karen. Normally I can't share pictures, but because the chart has already been released, I received permission this time. (Karen does not want the pieces ironed before sending them to her, so please ignore the "bumpiness".) Here is the whole design:

And some close-ups, to show the beautiful details:

Now that I'm done with that one, I'm getting caught up with CCN's Frosty Forest. I should be done with part 3 today or tomorrow, and part 4 should be at my LNS any day now. Once part 4 is stitched, I'm planning on finally getting back to Mirabilia's Red (although I also have to finish my Just Nan design for the March SAL). So many wonderful charts out there, so little time...

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

Just Nan SAL for February

This month for the JN SAL I stitched up her Christmas Eve WhimZi design, and popped it in the frame that came with it. I did change a couple of colors, and I used a different fabric than what was called for, and am pleased with the result. Here it is finished, before framing:

And here it is in its WhimZi frame:

I've started another WhimZi design for March, called Reindeer Game; maybe I should do all Christmas pieces for this SAL, then display them all at the end of the year...

Other posts regarding this SAL can be found here; there is even another Christmas Eve piece that someone else stitched. There is also a message from Nan Caldera herself.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy weekend!

See, this is why I don't have much of my own stitching to show

Sometimes, the problem with trying to keep my blog updated and interesting is that model stitching gets in the way. I stitch for Rosewood Manor, and usually what I'm stitching is several months away from being released, so I can't share any pictures. Now it looks like three of the pieces I've stitched are being released, so I thought I'd share them here (I"m borrowing the pictures from the Stitching Bits & Bobs site, because they have nice big pictures).

Cornwall Cottage Sampler is the piece I was working on last spring, and it is a BIG one--about 18.5" x 18.5". For this one, I stitched the chart model, so you can just make out my name in the box towards the bottom right:

I then took a couple of months off while my son was home for the summer, and then last fall I started working on Spring Has Come, the three-part mystery sampler that is coming out in March:

For this one, I stitched all four of the pieces shown: the main design, and three bonus designs that are included with the charts.

When that one was completed, I received the one I'm currently working on, which is Bucklebury Sampler:

This one isn't the chart model, it's a second piece that Karen will send around in trunk shows. I should have been finished by now, but I've been sick (twice!), so it's been going slowly lately. Hopefully another couple of weeks will see it finished.

Someday, all of the pieces that I've stitched for Karen will come back to me, nicely framed, and I will have a wall full of gorgeous Rosewood Manor pieces to enjoy. 

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!