Hi! How can it be November already? The last post I made was in July! Everything is fine, just busy I suppose. I spent part of the summer getting the spare bedroom ready for my Mother-in-Law’s visit in September. That was fun. I turned it into “The Mermaid room”. My MIL really liked the room. She visited for a month and we had lots of fun. We visited the zoo, went to a wedding, went up north, did lots of shopping, knitting and I taught her to do Diamond Painting, which I think she really enjoyed.
So, let me back-track and see where I left off over the summer…Oh yes. The Jolie Shawl. I finished it and it turned out very nice. So soft and sparkly.
Jolie Shawl
The pattern was from the July 2021 Seed Club from the Yarn Garden in Charlotte, Michigan. I don’t think the pattern is up on Ravelry yet, but you can contact the shop if you are interested. The yarn is from Britty Rae Knits and is just scrumptious.
I have also finished a cross stitch I was working on.
Dark Queen of the Seas
The Dark Queen is finished. I did leave off the corner elements and the crown. I also left off a ton of back stitching on her tentacles. Lots of gold lines and symbols. I thought her tentacles looked fine as is and that would have been way to much backstitching for me. I am not a fan of backstitch, so the less, the better 😉 Design is by Autumn Lane Stitchery. Fabric is 16ct Aida Iris from Fabrics by Stephanie.
I also finished these:
GalateaSummer LadySpring FaeIris Goddess
I have a few more finishes to share next time, including the full 20 Year Celebration.
Hello again! Two days in a row! Wow! Yesterday I told you I would share what I am cross stitching. Cross stitching is very calming to me. I usually save my cross stitch time for evenings. But there are days that I just can’t wait to start making little x’s so I will stitch in the morning. But whenever I sit down to stitch, it always helps me to relax and let go of what is going on around me. So, what am I stitching on?
20 year anniversary from Passione Ricamo
When I finished stitching Lady Mirabilia, I pulled this WIP out and have been working on it ever since. This is the 20 Year Anniversary Piece from Passione Ricamo. I have finished the Prosperity block, minus the beads which will be added when the entire piece is finished.
Prosperity
Then I went on to stitch the Calypso block and the Once Upon a Time blocks.
I have started the last block in this row, but just barely, so nothing really to show. And since I have been so good the last 10 months in not starting any new cross stitch projects, I decided to treat myself to a mystery SAL from Autumn Lane Stitchery. It is called Dark Queen of the Seas. It started on September 1 and once I started seeing all the cute fish popping up in the facebook group, I could resist no longer. So I purchased the pattern from Autumn Lane’s Etsy in September and ordered the fabric and beads and specialty threads from Under the Sea Fabrics. I was so excited to get this and get started, you know, with the hint about a mermaid. People were tagging me in the post, too because they knew I love mermaids. But, after purchasing the pattern, and reading the welcome letter and the details, I was disappointed. In the details were instructions that if you wanted to post on social media, use the hashtag Dark Queen of the Seas or hashtag It’s not a mermaid. What? How? Why? Oh I was so deflated. I probably would not have purchased the pattern if this info was up front. I did receive my products and started stitching on it this week. I purchased Opalescent fabric from Under the Sea Fabrics and after stitching half of a fish, decided no way. I love the look of Opalescent fabrics, but I just can’t stitch on them. I think it is the light reflection in the sparkles and then it makes it difficult for me to see the holes. So I ditched that fabric and picked up a fabric I was originally thinking of stitching it on, 16ct Aida Iris from Fabrics by Stephanie.
Dark Queen of the Seas start
I think it will look fine on this fabric. It is much lighter than the recommended fabric, but I think it will work fine. I had done a floss toss on this fabric when I first pulled it from my stash. I should have stuck with my original choice 😉
So I will continue stitching on it, even though it will be an Ursula type character and not a mermaid. The MSAL runs for a year, so a small section each month will give me a nice break from the 20 year anniversary piece. I have also ordered a special project bag that a lot of people have received and are using for this project. I can’t wait! I will share when I receive it.
I have received my September “Christmas Gift” project bag from Clevergirl Designs.
September Project bag frontSeptember Project Bag back
A fun travel themed bag. And yesterday I received my October Bag..
October Project Bag frontOctober Project Bag back
Love the October bag!! So cool looking. And my little pumpkin that I crocheted last year.
So that is what I have been up to. What are you doing these days to relax?
I’ve been pretty busy lately with all sorts of things. Let me show you what I have been up to.
Up first is a pidge scarf I finished for Sue. I used Bamboo yarn for the first time and I have to say that I LOVE this yarn! It is so soft and silky and I think this scarf will be really warm. I had a little trouble keeping a consistent tension with the yarn being so slippery, but I think it turned out well. And Sue loves it.
Next up is Emmy. I picked her up from the framer yesterday and she is just so pretty and sparkly.
I had her framed just about identical to Mediterranean. My plan is to hang them on each side of Enchanted mermaid. I will be sure to post pictures when they are hung.
I also picked up my Fairy Round Robin from the framer. In case you don’t know, I had it framed at a frame shop a couple of months ago and the framer did a horrible job. I sent it back only to get it back just as bad if not worse. So I took it in to Juanita, my awesome framer for the last 18 years or so, and she fixed it beautifully. No wrinkles, no wavy lines and my beads are not pressed against the glass. It looks marvelous! You can see the bad frame job here. Quite a difference between someone who basically used sticky tape and someone who knows what they are doing. I will never stray from Juanita again.
Thank you, thank you, Juanita. You are amazing! Now to find the perfect place to hang this beauty. While at Stitches N Things picking up my framings yesterday, I had a “bag in the back”. Things that I have ordered or were back-ordered and came in. I always seem to have “a bag” there and it’s always fun to see what I have collected. Here is what was in my bag today:
The new note cards with Nora Corbett’s drawings. The pack on the left is for Johanna. Stitches N Things was giving away an autographed card with purchase. I am so geeked to get one. On the bottom left is the Cauldron fabric for my Halloween project and the button pack is below it. In the middle is Persephone with the last pack of beads that I need for her and one of the waterlilies. I can’t wait to start her some day. She is gorgeous! And on the right is the next Santa’s village with JABCO button and specialty thread for it. That is another project that I need to start one of these days.
As promised, here is a picture of the bottom portion of the Under The Sea Fabric from Sunny Dyes which I am stitching Siren and the Shipwreck on:
It’s hand painted and to me, looks like seaweed or plants on the bottom of the ocean floor. When I first saw it, I knew that Siren just had to be stitched on it. I will post a progress of Siren in my next post. That is all of my stitchy news for now. May your needles glide smoothly and be without frogs 🙂
It’s been a while since I posted. So I have lots to share. First, some stitching.
I finally finished the chickadee and cherry blossoms on the right side of my Geisha Round Robin just in time for mailing last week. The title will have to wait until it returns home next year. Here is how the whole thing looked before mailing it off to Johanna:
I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, except that the fabric is 28ct Jobelan. Too stretchy for me. Since I like my fabric taught when I stitch and I tend to stitch a little too tight, the piece seems to be a little out of shape now. Maybe it will go back into place after everyone does their stitching on it. I’ll deal with that once it comes back home. It’s going to be so bright and colorful when it’s finished. I know that the 7 gals that will be stitching on it will do a great job. And I am looking forward to stitching on theirs.
While we are on the subject of Round Robins, this is the Round Robin I did last year. I finally put it in to be framed a few weeks ago and picked it up today. I tried a new framer, and not sure if I am 100% happy with it yet or not. There seems to be some puckering at the bottom, but I will leave it for a few days to see if the hot, humid weather has anything to do with it.
Sorry about the poor photo. Seems I may have to enlist a friend with her awesome photo taking abilities to come and take blog photos for me. My camera is just not doing the trick these days. Anyway, I love all the fairies that were stitched for me on this piece. So beautiful and sparkly in person.
She made some really cute vintage rings and I won this adorable one. She folded the back down so it almost lays flat. I may use it that way. Not sure yet. If you want to make your own, you can visit her blog for directions on how she creates them.
OMG! I totally fell in love with this piece of fabric! It has nice light colors, it’s 16 ct Aida and it’s SPARKLY!! So, so beautiful. I love it, Karen. And she was so sweet and made me some awesome scroll covers for my scroll frames. Isn’t she just the sweetest? I will post a pic soon with the monkey ones on my scroll frame.
So, I think I am caught up now…I am currently stitching on Karen’s Round Robin, but don’t want to post until I am finished. I have some things on order, some things kitted up to start and just last week I signed up for Passione Ricamao’s Mystery SAL. This will be a first for me-SAL and Mystery SAL. The enablers out there seem to think it’s a mermaid (thanks Julie 🙂 ) And you all know that I can’t resist a mermaid. Hopefully I won’t be away for quite so long next time. I have missed you 🙂
Hi. I have been a bit out of the blogging world. Hubby has been in the hospital for a week. He ended up having his gallbladder removed and I brought him home from the hospital today. So not much stitching for me this week. But I did receive my Round Robin back last weekend and want to share it with you.
It is so beautiful and sparkly. All of the gals did such a beautiful job on their blocks. Not sure when I will be able to get this framed. I’d love to do it now, but I’m afraid I may have to wait until after the holidays. It’s so beautiful that it needs to be hanging on a wall where I can admire it everyday. This was my first RR and I met some wonderful stitching friends and had a great time. Can’t wait until the next one.
Thanks for stopping by to see what I have been up to.
Kathy just finished stitching on my Round Robin and posted this photo:
Isn’t it just beautiful? I am so geeked about my first Round Robin. One more block to be stitched by Linda and then she will be on her way home to me. I can’t wait to see it in person. I sent it off in January 2012 to be stitched by 7 wonderful stitchers from around the world and it should be returning to me around November. I just melt every time I look at it. I know that it is sparkly and shimmery with all the metallic threads and beading. Everyone has done an awesome job stitching on this one for me. And I know that Linda will do an awesome job on the last fairy too and can’t wait to see her contribution . I will be sure to post here when I get it back .
My Time Stitching 