MotDB

I put some hours in on them over the weekend. Stitching on 28c PS Stormy Seas opal linen.

New Fabric Stash

 I am officially addicted to hand dyed fabrics now.  I have stocked up for probably the next year.  The one on the far left is Polstitches called Friendship which is a twin of the one I used for Mediterranean Mermaid.  The one in the middle is a small piece from Crossed Wing Collection (no opalescents) called Blueberry.  The 5 pieces on the right are all from Sunny Dyes Fabric, a new fabric dyer I have found.  This is my first time buying from them and I had great customer service and the product looks great.  The link for their website can be found on my sidebar.  I am in a 28 count mood these days, it just seems to look so much nicer and more even than 32 count in my opinion, so I felt the need to stock up on this count fabric.  Most of these will probably be used for Mirabilias.  Maybe a Passione Ricamo or Lavender and Lace might make it on one of these as well as some Heritage Stitchcrafts (I am liking the Valerie Pfeiffer Duets series and am contemplating the Elegance series).

Here is the progress I am making on Fairy Flora as of late; I am really trying to hustle on it since I am so close to finishing.  Also, I met some ladies at a stitching get together this week who have really inspired me so I have a new enthusiasm for my stitching projects.

I also added a little to Venetian Opulence since I last posted about her but instead of being done in a couple of weeks (this one is going to be just a portrait), I will not be done until sometime after I complete Fairy Flora.

When these are completed, I will start Mermaids of the Deep Blue On the Aqua fabric you see pictured above.

You can visit me at The Mirabilia Stitcher.

Mediterranean Mermaid Framed

I am really happy with how Mediterranean Mermaid's frame and mats turned out.  It has 2 mats, the top being suede and has a specialty cut in the corners.  The frame itself is a silverish tone with embellishments on it.  I love my framer, this only cost me $106...seriously, no joke. (I always choose from the less expensive frames and always choose regular glass so I save money there).

On October 15th I started Venetian Opulence.  This one is being stitched on 28 count Crossed Wing Collection's lugana, the color is Blueberry.  Unfortunately, there is no opalescent in this one.  I waited so long for Silkweaver to correct their error on my other piece of fabric meanwhile waiting to start MotD and nothing ever showed and since I am not sure if I want to use the original fabric they sent me or not and not wanting to wait a long time for a fabric order, I decided to order something from 123stitch.  Their service is incredibly fast, I received this order in 2 days.  They don't have any opalescents though, so there you have it.  This piece, Venetian Opulence, is going to be a portrait and not the entire design.

Here's my Earth Goddess at the end of September.I had some major issues with her on her arms and shoulder, there were a lot of fractional stitches and at one point I had to frog almost all of it.

Futurecast Update

Here she is at 20 hours. I am really pleased with how she is coming out however i don't believe that I will be reaching my goal of finishing her in 25 hours. There is still some stitching to be done, a ton of back stitching and beading. I figure that there is another 10 or so hours to work on her before I see a finish.

I will be keeping her as my car piece instead of trading her out so I may be luck enough to see a finish on her by the end of next week. I have not decided if I will go ahead and start another Futurecast for myself when I complete her or start Dragon Rampant instead. I still have a bit to make that decision though.

TW Tracery Dragon's Progress Post

Well, pages 2 & 3 of both the cross-stitching and backstitching/specialty stitching charts are done. I start on page 1 of the cross-stitching chart tomorrow. This has been a joy and a frustration. I never thought it would take so long to finish. At this rate, I will be thrilled to have this piece done by the end of the year. It's just one piece in a rotation of five pieces ... so I don't work on it exclusively.

Pegasus at StoneHenge

I have started another WIP. This is what the finished one will look like , it is called Pegasus at Stonehenge and is put out by Shinysun cross stitch. I will be back soon with a WIP picture.

Teresa Wentzler's Tracery Dragons Update

I am still working on pages 2 and 3 ... but I have finished the cross stitching and am now doing the backstitching and long stitching. I still have quite a bit of the backstitching on the trellis to complete and then it's on to adding the dragon's mane with a Kreinik metallic braid and using a wrapped backstitch to connect all the leaves to the rose bush canes. It's nice to see the design take on some definition. I hope to finish up all the backstitching and long stitching this week. I figure at the rate I am going, I may see a finish in late October or early November.

Rose Fairy Finish..

...and here she is :)  I did wonder if I would change my mind about back stitching the rose once I had done the back stitch on my Fairy, but I still like it the way I have left it.
I will have to decide how to finish her,but for now I am pleased I have completed her.

The designer is Joanne Sanderson. 
I used DMC cotton and DMC Light Effects.  
The beads are Mill Hill 03021 pearl.
Stitched on 14ct aida

Mediterranean Mermaid Start

Mediterranean Mermaid by Mirabilia

Here is my first 5 days of progress.  This is a fun design to stitch.  The fabric is 28 count opalescent lugana from Polstitches (the color is called Friendship). 
To visit my blog click here.

FutureCast @ 13 hours

I have named her Calypso, pretty name for a pretty little dragon :) I worked a few more hours on her by candlelight last night while the power was out due to Tropical Storm Irene. Now I am going back to QS Lilith for a few more hours, I may put another couple of hours into Calypso tonight if I have time. Next week I hope to be able to get to Waterville to pick up the fabric I need to finish her off. I am shooting to have her done in under 25 hours, there is still a good bit left to do on her so we'll see.

Hello Everyone

Hello everyone :) I am new here to this blog. My name is AmyJo and I live in Athens,Maine. I have been cross stitching for about 10 years now. I also make doll and miniature quilts. If you would like to stop by my blog and say hello it can be found here.

This is a freebie that I found on the Teresa Wentzler website and it is called Futurecast. I am doing it as a gift for my Aunt Kim for Christmas, her favorite color is purple so I went with a purple/teal conversion for it. I even know how I am going to finish it, over on the blog Random Ramblings there is an awesome tutorial for a fabric -mat that I think would make this look stunning ! I can't wait to finish it, this scan is about 7 hours in.

This is my Nimue's "La Pipe", I had to restart him because I just hated the fabric that I was stitching him on. I was stitching him over 2 on 25 ct Dublin Linen with 3 strands, now I am stitching him on 32 ct Antique White evenweave. I am stitching him for Larry for his 43rd Birthday in November. I hope he will be done in time, currently he is at 23 hours and comes back up in my rotation in 2 slots for another 7 hours. I am hopeing that I can get his legs, a bit of the pipe and some B.S. done in those 7 hours.

A gift from my secret sister

Cerys, on Enchanted Fabrics Forum.  I received Nora Corbet Tigerlily as my final package from my secret sister along with the beads and kreink.  Well having no will power I immediately added her to my new rotation, and since I was ready to start my next item, just kinda slid her in there to stitch.  I had some gorgeous Polstitches Opalescent Belfast in Toffee Popsicle to stitch on, just begging for this design.  So here is my first rotation on her.  She stitches up sooo fast.

Joan Elliott Unicorn and Maiden Progress

This is how far I have gotten on The Unicorn and Maiden. Going on to next design in my rotation and then get back to her. Hopefully will have more progress soon. Next is Mirabilia Red Lady Pirate in the rotation.

I have started the back stitch on my Rose Fairy, I will come back to her the first week in September  for my UFO week.  I decided to stitch the detail on her wings in one of the pinks of the rose, DMC602  instead of the darker colour in the original design.

The  detail on her dress is DMC600.After that I have  a few beads to stitch on the design :)

So What is Everyone Working on

this week?  It is back to school week so many of us are wound up in getting the kids on their way!  So stitching is an after thought for many of us. 

If you have time, send us a picture of what you are stitching.

I am working on DSotM Pirate Queen.  She has a face now :)...

So I really want to see what you have been working on!

hello all

First of all, thank you Terry for letting me post here aswell. Loving fantasy things so much, most of my stitches are fantasy projects that this blog is so nice.

So, as of today I'm the newest member of this blog. I'm Babs and some of you might know me allready from my own blog, but hey, you can also look here to the wonderfull other things the other people made. ;-) I'm 24 years old and I live in the wet Belgium. It's under the Netherlands and next to France and Germany if that says more, it's a small country, but we have very good chocolate and beer. A somekind of fantasy beer aswell, Cuvee des Trolls (Trolls Beer)...

But offcourse, this blog isn't about beer or chocolate, but about our fantasy stitching. So let me tell you what I love to stitch. So far I haven't stitched a lot yet, with work and so, and I don't stitch so long yet.

I fell in love Heaven and Earth Designs, and I'm stitching a piece of Amy Brown at the moment, called Bottom of the Garden.

It's a huge piece, and it won't be finished somewhere in the next few years...

I also love Joan Elliott pieces. I finished the Summer Fairy and I'm stitching the Earth Goddess at the moment. Here you can see my Summer Fairy framed.

There are a lot more things I hope to still stitch, but then there is time, but one stitch at a time, we will make georgeous things, I guess.

I hope to see you all around and happy stitching,

Love, Babs

Rose Fairy Update

I did some stitching during UFO week on the stitching forum to which I belong, and decided to carry on until the light effects threads in the fairy's wings gave me a headache. I really do not like stitching with these threads even though I use Thread Heaven.I have been very patient and am getting on ok.I will have a break after finishing the third wing. 
I am only going to back stitch the fairy because I like the softer look of the rose and foliage without it and tbh I don't think the back stitch is needed..the colours Joanne Sanderson chose for this design contrast so well that the petals and leaves speak for themselves..IMHO. Anyway enough talking.. here's a photo :)

Stitching Bucket List

After I finished Morning Fae, I was deciding on my rotation and my mind wandered to all the things I want to finish before I can no longer stitch, so here is my Stitching Bucket List. 
LHN - Home of A Needleworker 2
DSOTM - Pirate Queen
Passione Ricamo - Circe the Sorceress
Kustom Krafts - Little Snapdragon
Joan Elliott - Mystical Muse
Patricia Allison - Dragon Carousel
Nora Corbet - Fern
Joan Elliott - Sea Goddess
Nimue - Clair de Lune
Joan Elliott - Blossom Splendor
FireWing - Dragonfly 1: Mushroom Magic
Passione Ricamo - Seasonal Fairies
Joan Elliott - Elemental Goddesses
Dark Side of the Moon - Vana and the Dragons
Joan Elliott - Iris Fairy
Joan Elliott - Green Goddess
Nora Corbett - Pansy
Mirabilia - Sept. Sapphire Fairy
Joan Elliott - Rose Fairy
Joan Elliott - Spring, Summer, Winter, Autumn Fairies
Mirabilia - South Seas Mermaid
Nora Corbett - Iris
Joan Elliott - Rose Goddess
Joan Elliott - Moon Goddess
Nora Corbett - Bluebell Fairy
Nora Corbett - Sweet Pea
Passione Ricamo - Galatea
FireWing - Eclilpse
Joan Elliott - Fancy Fairy
Joan Elliot - Poppy Fairy
Passione Ricamo - Fairy of Dreams
Nora Corbett - Magnolia
Passione Racamo - Selene
Joan Elliott - Blue Geisha
Joan Elliott - Celestial Dragon
Nora Corbett - Tiger Lily
Passione Ricamo - Serendipity Fae
Joan Elliott - Father Sun
Mirabilia - Fairy Flora
Dragon Dreams - Fairy Tale Sampler

How about you, what is your list of gotta do someday?

Some progress on Tracery Dragons

I am not quite finished with page 2 of the cross-stitching chart. I have to admit I haven't been all that diligent in the past few days. My son and his young family flew in from the West Coast last Thursday and stitching has taken a back seat to visiting with family, especially with the grandchildren. Liam, though only four, is a born performer and knows the way straight to his grandpa's heart: he sang the Washington Redskins fight song, all the way through, word and pitch perfect! Piper Ann, at two, is fearless and climbs playground equipment designed for older and taller children ... while grandma holds her breath and stands by ready to come to the rescue.

Happy Happy Happy Dance

Culmination of 5 to 6 months work.  Taa Daa Finished Passione Ricamo Morning Fae!!!!  Now on to working on my rotation.  I am sooo Happy with her.  She is my first finished Fantasy Lady and I know she wont be my last.  I adore all bling and detail.   I am hyped to stitch!

Tracy's Shorty Cut Morning Fae Completed

I stitched on this one morning, noon, and night for the last 3 days to finish up her wings.  My version of this lovely design is now complete.  I do wish she were sitting on something and had butterflies and hummingbirds around her but I just want to be done with it.  Perhaps I will add that stuff at a later time.  This was stitched on 32 count legacy lugana.

What are your stitching goals?

We are over half way through the year (as I get older the years go by faster).  So what are your stitching goals for the second half of the year?

My major goal is to finish Morning Fae and get a rotation going.  What about you?

Morning Fae Update

Did not get as much as I wanted done but I am beginning to see an end...Yahoo, end in sight, LOL.So here she is as of 7/31/11...

Recent Updates

have updates on two of my fantasy projects.

The first one is Unicorn and Maiden by Joan Elliott:

My second is Once Upon A Time by Passione Ricamo:

I haven't done very much on these because I have been caught up in working on a Chatelaine. Hope to get back to them soon.

Teresa Wentzler's Tracery Dragons

This is becoming a love-hate kind of stitch. I have had to frog errors four times on this project ... something most unusual for me. I have been stitching for a little over 40 years and like to think of myself as rather an accomplished needlewoman. But this rather unforgiving chart is doing a number on my ego. It is deceptively simple with its many unstitched spaces [at least, at the cross stitch stage of the project ... these spaces won't be quite so empty after the backstitching]. However, what this means is that all the stitching has to line up precisely. Well, as many of you know, TW is the unrivalled mistress of the irregular repeat. Most recently, my aging eyes didn't take note of a 2 1/4 stitch repeat causing me to have to frog two rather lengthy branches of the rose bush. And I do hate to frog quarter stitches!

But I love the design and so am determined to get this done perfectly. Here is my current progress photo. Lest you wonder where the dragons are: the blue stitching will begin to look more like dragons after the backstitching.

Winter Fairy Spirit

I stitched on her this weekend as part of the PR sal.
Before:

After:

My rotation on Morning Fae so far

I thought I would never get done with the beads on this section, lol.  I hate them but it is worth it.  This weekend I finished out that one skirt section with beads and finishing flowers and silver lace.  Just two more sections on the dress and then I will be almost done.  Hopefully soon.

I have a few days off and the end of the week so I hope to get a lot done :).  I am ready to get her finished....I love her, but the blue is a lot.

Morning Fae

This is my progress on Morning Fae from Passione Ricamo.  I have modified the dress to simplify it and left off the tattoos/vines.  The only thing left to stitch now are the beautiful wings which is why I love this piece in the first place.  She is being stitched on 32 count lugana (legacy) by picture this plus.

Bluebeard's Mermaid

This was started as part of the Mirabilia Yuku board Mermaid SAL but I've thrown the rotation schedule in the bin and intend to keep stitching til she's done now!

I have stitched the top and the conch shell but it doesn't all fit on my scanner!  You can see how much bling there will be from the gaps.  I am currently stitching both seahorses then the border.  After that it'll be the metallic and the beads to finish.

The fabric is a 32 count Murano from The Crafty Kitten.

There are progress photos on a special page on my blog.

Pirate Queen Hat

Yay, managed to get 10 hours of stitching in on the DSOTM Pirate Queen.  Speaking of Dark Side of the Moon did you see her new design?  Check it out here.  It is Vana and the Dragons.

So Here is Pirate Queen, and back to Morning Fae for me.

butterfly fairy update

I hope I can finish this in the week, just some stitching along the bottom and the right side and then the beading

TW's Tracery Dragon's Progress

Now that it is actually beginning to look something like the model photo, I feel comfortable in posting a progress photo. TW designs depend heavily on back-stitching. Compare the back-stitched rose at lower center with the un-back-stitched rose on the upper left and you'll see what I mean. The one not yet back-stitched looks rather messy with all those quarter stitches going every which way, exposing the background fabric. Even so, I'll be waiting till I complete page two of the chart before I do any more back-stitching ... it has to be done in a specific order to define the design properly.

Started Pirate Queen

on Polstitches Big Bang.  I love this fabric the picture does not do it justice.  So here is about an hour and a half work on it so far.  It is has gotten me wanting to stitch.  So I will do about 10 hours on it and then back to Morning Fae for at least 5 and onward, I think this is going to keep me motivated.

Morning Fae Update

This isn't much of an update, I have really got into a rut and not stitching much.  I decided it is definitely time to get into a rotation to get myself moving.  So, here is a picture of Morning Fae as of now, not a lot of progress

My rotation will include:

Pirate Queen by Dark Side of the Moon(on Big Bang from Polstitches)

Spring Fairy by Joan Elliott (thank you secret sister) on Fairy Dreams by Polstitches

Fancy Fairy by Joan Elliott on Polstitches Summer Breeze

Pansy by Nora Corbett on unknown fabric

Rose Goddess by Joan Elliott on Polstitches Colorful Clouds

Sweet Pea by Nora Corbet on Silkweaver Opalescent solo

September Sapphire Fairy by Mirabilia on Polstitches Sky HIgh

Eclipse by Fire Wing Designs on Polstitches Toffee Popsicle

Bluebell by Nora Corbett on Dyeing4U (yes I still have a piece) Mint Julep

Inspiration by Rosewood Manor on Silkweaver Tawny Sparkle Belfast Linen (already about 1/3 done)

So hopefully it will spur me on!!

Have a Good Week!



Fairy Flora

This is 3 more weeks of progress since the last time I posted Flora.  Most of that time was spent stitching variations of pink on her fairy gown.  There is still a long way to go but I am going to take a break from this piece for a while until she inspires me again.  Please visit me at The Mirabilia Stitcher.

Some small progress

I am back to working on a Teresa Wentzler project each Wednesday after missing a week earlier this month. Still my progress is slow ... but I have gotten far along enough that I am satisfied that choosing a lighter fabric than recommended is going to work out well. This project will probably take all summer to complete ... there are a record number of fractional stitches, even for TW, and the backstitching will be very complicated. She included a separate three pages of chart just for the back-stitching which will be in five different colors.

Tracy's Progress on Lady Hera

I have some progress at last.  Here is my start on Lady Hera by Mirabilia.  I actually started this one on May 26th but was working on Fairy Flora until two days ago when I got up the motivation to change the colors of the yellow dress to gold.  I kept the ribbons the same color, I hope they will work with it.  This one is being stitched on Silkweaver Reflections, 32 count, Starquest.  If you would like my conversion for the dress, don't hesitate to send me an e-mail. Next week I will reveal my progress on Fairy Flora, I am about half way complete with it.  Please visit me at The Mirabilia Stitcher.

Happy Dance for Nimue's Baby Swing

Without flash to show the true colours:

 With flash to show the details, metallics, beads and bells:

I have posted at great length about this one on my blog, so hop over there to find out more.  It's stitched on some 32 count Murano hand dyed specially for me by The Crafty Kitten.  The fabric is currently June's Ltd Edition.  It's a nice green with a hint of paler yellow, I wanted dappled sunlight through trees but not to bright and garish.  I tend to the subtle in hand dyeds so far.  The design is called "The Baby Swing" by Nimue although I bought the chart from Violarium as I didn't know about the Nimue site until after I'd bought the chart!  I can recommend Violarium, I ordered two Nimue charts from them, they were delivered quickly from Europe and came with half a dozen free small charts from companies I'd not seen before.

Happy First Day of Summer

I have been in a stitching slump, so have no new pictures to show you..How about all of you, getting any stitching on fantasy done?

Have a Great Week

Butterfly Fairy

I have done some stitching but my mojo is lagging.The weather is nice now and after the brutal winter here i like to spend time out in the yard.When I get tired of weeding and planting I will spend time enjoying the sun and stitching on the deck. Natural light is so much nicer to stitch in.

Fairy Celebration

Here's my finished Fairy Celebration, she's a freebie from Passione Ricamo.  Stitched on 14count raspberry aid with DMC white and Madeira Metallic Silver.  I'm not keen on the Madeira Metallics, they don't seperate easily and are very thin.  There's also the problem of what to do with the piece you cut off from the long thin packet.  With DMC I use Floss-a-way bags and put the cut-off piece back in the bag (with standard threads I tie it through a piece of card cut from a thread sorter and put it back in the bag.)

She is a gift for my niece who has just had a baby girl.

For those who aren't aware, I have a feature on my blog where I post the contents page of each magazine I buy.  This is to help people decide if they want to look for the mag themselves (I don't post the charts).  The new edition of Cross Stitch Collection has been added today.  Come and have a peek at Serendipitous Stitching!

Fairy Flora by Mirabilia

I don't have a lot of progress on Fairy Flora but wanted to share the little bit that I have made since the last post about her.

New Teresa Wentzler BAP: Tracery Dragons

My new TW piece, Tracery Dragons, just eats up stitching time. There are far more quarter stitches than usual ... and Teresa Wentzler is no slouch when it comes to quarter stitches at the best of times. In this piece, the quarter stitches are offset to make skinny little diagonals. Talk about counting twice and stitching once! More like counting three and four times to make sure these wicked little fractionals are in exactly the right place. I can sense the frog waiting in the wings but so far he has not made even a cameo appearance, thank the Lord! The frequent color changes and all the blended needles seem like child's play compared to the fractionals. I foolishly thought that because this piece required only 46 shades of DMC and was a bit smaller than the usual TW chart, it would take only a month or so to stitch. Not likely!! I usually enjoy Wentzler's work since I have a split stitching personality: enjoying the process as much as the end result. But I fear this piece will not give much joy to the process stitcher within. Furthermore, at the moment the piece has all the aesthetic appeal of a three year old's first finger painting: random blobs of color with no discernible design concept. I have to keep looking at the model photo to remind myself of my reason for stitching the piece. Never had to do that before.

The other potential problem with Tracery Dragons is that, though the chart was designed to be used with a dark fabric, I am using a mid-tone fabric. The floss toss looked fine but that isn't always a clear indication of how the stitched piece will look. I want to believe it will be okay since I dislike stitching on very dark fabric. I'll have a pretty good idea once I have finished cross-stitching and back-stitching page three of the chart ...and since that only involves the bottom two inches of the piece, I won't have invested too much time in the project if I decide it doesn't look right. I have some black linen I could use instead if necessary. I hope it won't be necessary, though.

At least the other pieces in my current rotation are easy, quickly finished and visually appealing ... enough to help me get past the initial ugly duckling stage of Tracery Dragons.