Halloween Quaker reappears

Last Thursday I finished a model, and then spent some time getting some housework done. I did a little reorganizing in my craft room, and while I was sorting through my WIPs Halloween Quaker by Lila's Studio caught my eye so I decided to spend some time on it this past weekend. Here is the progress I had made up until last October:

And here it is as of last night:

I've had three black cats and one black with some white, so the kitty motif was a fun stitch:

Of the two models I have left, one doesn't have a deadline and one isn't due until June, so I think I'm going to spend a week or so on this piece and see if I can't get to at least the halfway mark.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

No cure for start-itis

Why is it that once an idea for a design enters my head I just can't let it go until I actually put needle to fabric? About a month ago I bought Butternut Road's Provence Sampler, thinking that it would be a fun piece to do with new colors; then as I stitch on other things I play with colors in my head. I came across a limited edition Silk'n Colors called Birds of Paradise, and the two just clicked! And once that happened I eventually had to give in and make a start:

Right now I've pulled fuschia, aqua and purple SNCs that match the colors in Birds of Paradise, and I'll probably add some beads as well. This will be a good project to work on a bit at a time when I feel the urge to do some stitching for myself.

I've also started a new Tempting Tangles SAL piece, called Swans & Shears, which just had the first part released on the 19th. With a small part coming every two weeks,  I hope to be able to keep up with this one. Here is part 1 (minus the start of a larger motif on the right, which I'm waiting  to see more of before choosing colors), using whatever colors appeal to me on a piece of PTP Meditation Belfast:

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

More butterflies

I woke up this morning to find that two of the three new Nora Corbett releases were butterflies that I stitched. This is Miss Columbian Nymphalid:

And this is Miss Goss Swallowtail:

It's hard to choose my favorite between these two!

I sent another model back last week, and should have another one finished in about a week, then it will be time to start my first full-sized Mirabilia, which will be hard to part with when it's time to send it back!

The winner of the Snow Globe kit remainder is...

Please send an email with your mailing address to rrowe @ new.rr.com (remove the spaces) and I will mail this out later this week. If I don't hear from you within a week, I'll draw another winner. Congrats!

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

Busy, busy, busy!

I might continue to blog less than usual for a while, as more models have come in. I received a new Rosewood Manor design in December, which thankfully has no set deadline, then two Nora Corbett's and a Mirabilia right after New Year. The first NC is due January 30th, but I'll be finishing it either today or tomorrow, so that's not a problem. I'm hoping at some point I'll have enough models done and in the pipeline that I'll be able to blog more regularly as they start being released and I can share pictures.

I did sneak in a bit of stitching for myself and completed Miss Lole's Daggerwing, on a piece of Silkweaver Tallahassee Teal Belfast. I lightened her hair up a bit, for a bit more color on the darker fabric:

I also contacted Wichelt about the defective button in the Mill Hill Snow Globe kit and they kindly sent a replacement, so I was able to get this finished and framed before I put it away until next Christmas:

In an earlier post I shared Nora's "Lady in Pink" painting that I had taken to the framer, so I thought I'd share the framed piece:

My framer said that he loves that I'm "not afraid of color", and he's certainly right about this one!

I thought I would start the new year with another small giveaway, for the chart, left-over threads and beads, needles and even the defective button (you might be able to sand the back to make it flatter) for the Snow Globe:

There won't be enough of the floss and some of the bead colors, and you'll have to use your own fabric or perforated paper, but you'll have the pattern and a good start on the supplies. Just leave a comment here, then check back in a week to see if you won and contact me using the email I'll post.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

Merry Christmas!

Well, it's 10am and I'm waiting for my 16-year-old son to get up so we can open presents (and it might be a while, because he usually goes to bed around 3am!), so I decided to bring a little Christmas cheer to one of my readers by doing the drawing for the needle minder. The winner is:

Please send your address to me at rrowe @ new.rr.com (remove the spaces) and I will get this in the mail later this week. If I don't hear from you by next Monday, I'll draw another winner. Congrats!

I was able to finish the Mill Hill Snow Globe last night, after a full day of beading. Here it is before the beads:

And finished:

The ceramic heart button isn't attached, because it is defective; it looks like the left side cracked and part of the underside is missing so the button won't lay flat. I'm going to contact Wichelt to see if they'll send a replacement; if not I'll have to buy one because my OCD won't let me  use this one!

Now I'm off to put the pie in the oven and have another cup of coffee. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

A bad case of start-itis!

I mailed the models back to Wichelt early last week, and I've been going a bit nuts trying to figure out what to stitch on for myself! I started with Miss Solar Ellipse, on Ophelia Belfast from Under the Sea Fabrics:

Then I was putting some things away and came across Vervaco's Autumn Fairy, which took me several years to find, and I decided to pull it out and finally make a start, on a piece of SW Harvest Belfast:

Finally, I put the tree up last week and put out some decorations, which include a couple of Mill Hill beaded designs, and I got an urge to start a Christmas design. That very day I had received an order from 123Stitch which included a Mill Hill kit, so I started that!

I think I'll try to stick with the snow globe and see if I can get it done by Christmas, though I still have to get the presents wrapped and get some cleaning done, so stitching time will be a bit limited.

Speaking of Christmas, I have an adorable needle minder to give away as a thank you to all who spend time reading my blog:

All you have to do is leave a comment that you'd like to be entered, and on Christmas day I'll draw a winner, and I'll mail to anywhere in the world. Then be sure to check back and contact me if you're the winner (I'll leave my email address in the post), as I might not be able to get your contact info from your profile.

Wishing everyone all the best of the holiday season!

Poison Pixies

It turns out that I do have some stitching I can share this week, as the second set of Nora Corbett models I stitched was released last week. This is Angel White Trumpet:

And White Clover:

A couple of fun facts about these: when I received them they were called Pixie Weeds, so Poison Pixies is a fun change from that, and I look forward to seeing more in the series. Also, when I sent the picture of the completed White Clover in, Nora decided that she wanted to change the Kreinik that was used in the wings. While it wasn't fun frogging all that Kreinik, it did make a big difference and the wings look much softer and prettier now. Here is how she looked before the change:

I should be able to finish the first of the next two models this week, and hopefully the second will be done by mid-December.

Wishing those in the US a wonderful Thanksgiving this Thursday, and everyone a great stitchy week!

Finally finished!

This past Saturday I celebrated finally finishing the model for Rosewood Manor! While it isn't one of the largest designs I've stitched, it was fairly intricate; I checked it over three times after I was done and found two missed back stitches the first time and two missed cross stitches the second time. The third time looked good, so today it will be on its way back to Karen.

I'm afraid I still won't have much stitching I can share for a bit, as the two Nora Corbett models are due at the end of the year. With Thanksgiving coming up, and Christmas to get ready for I'll have less stitching time than usual so I won't be doing any of my own until the models are done.

I do have a bit of "old" stitching to share, which is The Mysterious Halloween Town by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery that I finished a few years ago. I sent it in to SewMuch2Luv (on Etsy and Facebook) to have it made into a bag, and the result is just amazing:

I thought the fabric with the potion bottles would be fun with the Elixir shop, and Karen added in the candy corn fabric which goes perfectly with the buttons I added to the design. The bag is really well constructed and I am thrilled with the finished piece!

On the non-stitchy front, I recently had a couple of Nora Corbett paintings framed, and my framer did her usual outstanding job:

I love that these are so different from each other, but both make me so happy to look at.

When I picked them up I dropped off another of Nora's paintings that I recently purchased, which would have made a lovely Mirabilia design:

I can't wait to see her after the magic of framing!

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

Halloween Quaker progress

I spent the weekend (and part of today--oops!) working on Halloween Quaker, and was able to complete two more motifs:

I also frogged the smaller motifs and replaced them with Silk'n Colors Halloween Confetti, which I like a lot better:

I also did the finishing on the Mani di Donna ornament:

Tomorrow it's back to work on the Rosewood Manor piece; I won't finish it this week, but hoping I'll be able to next week.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

The witch is stitched

This past weekend I was able to finish the flying witch and moon in Halloween Quaker, which is about a quarter of the way done now:

I've already cheated on my "work" rotation, by taking a day and a half to stitch up this cute little design by Mani di Donna:

Now when the mood strikes me I'll take a day and finish it into an ornament.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!