Mirabilia's Botanical Garden

 I stitched this model last fall and today I can finally share! This is MD177 Botanical Garden:

I absolutely love her and am hoping to stitch her for myself at some point; it's not a huge design so I should be able to squeeze it in sometime, maybe as a project for the weekends.

I think she arose from this painting that Nora sold back in December 2019:

I just wish stitching wasn't such a relatively slow process--I have dreams where I can stitch a Mirabilia in a day or two and it feels amazing. Of course, to even those dreams out I have nightmares where I've taken a Mira in to be framed and the framer has cropped the fabric and framed it really badly (off-centered and with bunches in the fabric) so it can't be fixed--always good to wake up from those!

Feeling the need to add a note here now that this has been posted--I wrote this up on Saturday the 14th and saved a draft but didn't post until Sunday morning after the chart was released. Don't want to get in trouble for sharing before it was released...

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

21 years and two weeks

 As mentioned in my last post it took 21 years to start the Mirabilia ornament in the JCS Christmas Ornaments 2000 issue and then it took two weeks (actually eight days but with a break in between) to stitch it. I finished it last night and checked it over twice for any missed stitches before putting the magazine and floss away, then of course this morning I spotted three missed stitches right away! Those are now fixed and hopefully this is the completed ornament:

Luckily I only had to make up the 1 in the date, as any other number might have been a bit tricky. The fabric is PTP Cyprium Belfast, which looked fairly similar to the fabric used for the model. I'm thinking I might get this framed as I think it's the same size as Nora's Peace Doves ornament that I had framed and they would look nice hanging together as a set:

As a fun side fact the 2001 JCS Ornament issue listed the same designers on the front cover as the 2000 issue, and as this included Mirabilia I was very excited to see her ornament. I must have looked through the magazine four or five times before realizing that there was no Mirabilia ornament included, and I'm still bummed about that 20 years later!

During my break from the ornament I completed the Jardin Prive SAL Au Fil des Nichoirs, including going back and making a few changes to previous parts, and I am really pleased with the finished piece:

It's been a long time since I've been to my framer and I have several gift certificates that need to be used so I think I'll try to get over there sometime this week with a few pieces, including these two.

For now I'll be working on a Mirabilia model that I started last night, and next week I'll share some pictures of MD177 which should be released next weekend.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

It only took 21 years

 I've been a fan of Mirabilia designs pretty much from the start (within a year or so of the first chart--back then you had to go to a shop to actually see charts and I often didn't go for months at a time) so I was excited when Nora had an ornament in the 2000 issue of JCS Christmas Ornaments:

I've always intended to stitch it, but time got away from me so it is now 21 years later and I have finally taken the plunge! I started it last Monday and this is as far as I got until Saturday morning:

It will probably take another three or four days to finish, but the two SALs that I've been doing had parts released over the weekend so I've put this one aside for a few days; really looking forward to finishing it though!

If you're on FB I'm doing a give away connected to this ornament--anyone who stitches it by Christmas of this year will be entered to win Nora Corbett's Holly pixie chart. This is the group if you're interested in joining in the fun; would love to see you there!

The Cecilia Votta SAL part came out on the July 31 instead of August 1 so I stitched that one first and it only took a day:

So yesterday I made a start on the final part of the Jardin Prive SAL, though there's only some fence posts done right now so I won't bother with a picture. There are a couple of things on this one that I'm going to go back and change once it's stitched, but still hoping to have it completed by mid week.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

SALs update

I'm happy to say that I have once again remained on track with both of the SALs I'm currently doing and have high hopes of staying with them until the end. Both had new parts released on July 1 and by July 4 I had Au Fil des Nichoirs completed:

I was a bit disappointed that the October house/scene wasn't Halloween-inspired, but I don't think Halloween is widely celebrated in France so I suppose it's not surprising. I thought about adding a ghost button coming from the house but even the smallest button was too big and just didn't look right. If I wasn't trying so hard to stay caught up with the stitching I might have spent some time playing around with the chart to add some Halloween elements but I just didn't have the ambition right now so this is how it will stay--I still love the design and am looking forward to a finish in just a few weeks now.

On July 7 I finished part 7 of the Cecilia Votta SAl, and on July 8 I extended my Qsnaps and stitched the boxes for the three remaining parts:

 

I think we stitch the two smaller boxes on the left in the next part, then the two on the right and then the large middle box in October. The designer has added the word Advent in two other languages at the bottom but I don't really like that so I will either leave it as it is or come up with something else to do; right now I'm leaning towards leaving it like it is because I think it will look "finished" without anything else at the bottom.

For now I am back to work on the Rosewood Manor model and hoping to have it done by the end of the month, and I received a new Mirabilia model last week so I am itching to start that as soon as the RM piece is on its way back to Karen.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

A different style (for me)

 I've been stitching for over 30 years now and I find myself gravitating to a handful of designers; mostly Nora Corbett/Mirabilia, Rosewood Manor, Tempting Tangles and Glendon Place for larger pieces and Lizzie Kate and Cross Eyed Cricket for smaller designs. I've stitched a lot of other patterns from other designers over the years, but these are the ones I find I have a lot of and work on a lot. One style I've never been fond of in general is primitive (though I make an exception for The Primitive Needle), and to me Blackbird Designs charts are mostly in this category. However there are a few of their patterns that I like, including America, which was released sometime around the year 2000, is out of print and usually sells for fairly high prices when it does show up. Recently a shop here in Wisconsin received some older stock of America from the designers and I was able to get the chart for retail price; I decided to make a start on it because I was excited to see how it would look on the fabric I chose for it so I started it on June 11 and this is what it looked like on June 13:

The fabric is Zweigart Sparkle Grey/Silver Belfast linen, and as I wanted it to be the background I wasn't planning to fill in the part around the flag as they did in the model. Working on the quilt-like border with nice sized chunks of color was a welcome change from the Rosewood Manor model I should have been working on, as it contains a lot of color changes and small areas with just a few stitches, so I decided to stick with this one a bit longer and then I ended up stitching straight through to the 21st when I was able to finish it. I was a bit torn about whether to leave the America portion off altogether as the design is already pretty tall and narrow and I knew I would have to fill in the area around it for it to look good on this fabric; this is what it looked like without the section:

And after:

I do think I like it better with the banner portion, but I suppose that could just be because it's already done now! I did make some changes along the way, and am very happy that I was able to get this for such a good price and have the fun of stitching it already.

Now I'm back at work on the model until July 1 when the next parts of two SALs are released; already looking forward to working on those again.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

Where the heck does the time go?!!

 So our window installation last month went relatively smoothly; the work was done in three days, none of the cats escaped through the openings when the old windows were removed and there was only one minor hiccup as the transom window in our closet was white on the outside instead of sandstone. They expedited the order of the replacement for it and that was put in on the 29th--so far so good. Unfortunately, because the windows came five to six weeks earlier than expected our finisher can't stain and varnish them until after July 4th. I have blinds ordered which will probably get here in the next week or so, but they can't be installed until the staining is done so we are currently living in a fishbowl and will be for another month! And as someone with a bit (or more) of OCD it leaves me feeling slightly on edge pretty much all the time having an unfinished project all around me. This is why it took me so long to actually get around to starting it in the first place; I know I'll be very happy when it's done but the process is a killer.

Anyway, I was actually able to get quite a bit done on the model while they were here because I didn't want to be upstairs while they worked so I burrowed into my craft room and stitched all day for three days. I'm probably around the halfway point now and hoping to finish it in early July (hopefully right around when our windows get finished!).

I did spend one weekend last month working on Glendon Place's Spook Town Square. I looked back in my blog to see when I had last had it out and was amazed to see that it was almost three years ago--there's no way I would have thought it was that long ago! I'm still working on the second of the four charts, and was able to finish the borders for the two remaining squares in that part. Here's before:

And after:

Now when the mood strikes I'll have the fun part of filling in those squares to work on.

On June 1 the two SALs I'm working on released new parts and I finished those up a couple of days ago. Au Fil des Nichoirs by Jardin Prive now has two parts to go and will hopefully be done in early August:

I'm looking forward to seeing the October birdhouse next month!

The Cecilia Votta SAL still has four more parts to go (I haven't done all of the outlines because I'll need to extend my Qsnaps once the next part is done):

A close up of the last three parts:

I've added a few metallics and beads to this one, but it's kind of fun to see how a fairly limited color palette can make up so many little motifs. I would imagine Santa will make an appearance soon, so looking forward to that.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

Happy Mother's Day!

 Hoping all the moms (and furbabies count!) have a wonderful day today. Sadly I am spending the day cleaning, but my sweet husband has offered to pick up Texas Roadhouse for dinner later so that will be my reward. We are scheduled to have new windows installed throughout our house over the next three days and I am really dreading it--the noise, the mess, the upset pets--and then the finisher will have to come and stain the new windows and I don't know how long that will take. And of course then I'll have to order new blinds and live without window coverings for the next month or so (I hope it's not longer than that!), so all in all I am a bit stressed right now and ready for the next week or so to be over!

I don't know how much stitching I'll be able to do for the next little while, but I was able to get caught up on both of the SALs I'm working on, and both are now halfway to completion. This time I did the Jardin Prive piece first:

And a couple of days ago I finished part 5 of the Serenita di Campagna design:

I'm a bit surprised I've kept up with these so far; I usually have good intentions but time gets away from me and once I fall behind it's just too easy for WIPs to disappear into the never ending pile. Hoping to stay with both of these all the way through.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week (even if I can't...)!

Time to get back to "work"

 I still haven't heard back from Wichelt about whether the model is approved or if changes need to be made and it's making me a bit nervous--the longer it goes the more I imagine extensive revisions being made! It might just be a matter of Nora being busy and the person I work with at Wichelt only being in the office one day a week; planning to send an inquiry today as the person is at work on Tuesdays, so hopefully they'll get back to me soon.

I spent the last week doing some cleaning around the house and working on a couple of CEC mittens. The first is Little Fan, which was a freebie which coordinates with the Dickens Mittens leaflets:

The second is a freebie called Cross My Heart Mitten (currently on the CEC site along with a second free mitten):

The next mitten I've kitted up is the 1 Good Egg Mitten, so it's ready to go when the urge strikes again. My goal was to stitch at least one mitten each month and so far I've done 11 in 7 months so I'm a bit ahead for now; I'll probably do the next one in May.

Yesterday I decided to dig out my last set of Qsnaps not already in use and start the Rosewood Manor model while I continue to wait to hear from Wichelt. I'll work on it for the next couple of weeks then plan to take a break when the two SALs have new parts released on May 1, so probably no new posts for a few weeks.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

Up to date

 I am happy to say that I am once again caught up with the two SALs that I'm signed up for. It only took a couple of days to finish part 4 of the Serenita di Campagna design, and I've already completed the outlines for the next three parts as well (though I didn't take an updated picture of that portion):

Last night I finished part 2 of Au Fil des Nichoirs:

When I first saw this part I could have sworn the March birdhouse was a cactus with a cowboy hat roof, and the mask meant that it must represent the Lone Ranger, though I couldn't figure out what that had to do with March. I felt like an idiot when it was mentioned that it was a leprechaun hat, and the consensus is that the mask is for Mardi Gras--duh! Makes a lot more sense.

Still waiting to hear from Wichelt so I haven't started the Rosewood Manor piece as I don't want to take the Mirabilia off the Qsnaps yet; hoping to get an approval email tomorrow. For now I really need to get some housework done anyway, so I'm going to focus on that for a couple of days--blech!

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

A small finish

 Last week I finished the model I was working on and am now waiting to hear if it is approved to send back. It's always a bit of a tense time because Nora sometimes decides to make changes and I really don't like having to rip out stitches and redo, so fingers crossed it gets the green light!

I have received the next parts for the Jardin Prive and Campagna di Serenita SALs and will be stitching those this week before I start a new Rosewood Manor model. I spent the weekend on Cross Eyed Cricket's Lone Pine Mitten (leaflet 227) and finished it yesterday:

I had kitted this one up back in January when we were in the middle of winter and I didn't really enjoy working on it now that the weather has been so nice here for the past few days, so I've already picked out a much more spring-like mitten to do when the mood next strikes.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!