Morning Fae

Had this framed for my sister.  Morning Fae by Passione Ricamo

Fleur

I see a new project in my future.  Fleur by John Clayton, Elegance Collection.  What color fabric would you stitch this on?

New Stash

Heritage Stitchcrafts Elegance Series.  I guess I have an affinity for beautiful faces.  Do you think I will get around to stitching any of these this year...I hope so.

A Lovely Face

 Lanarte    Lady with Lilac Flower

This project is coming along very slowly for me.  There is a lot of changing of the floss/needle which I am not a fan of.  Seeing her face now though is inspiring me to work on it more.

Lanarte's Lady With Lilac Flower

My first progress photo.  I started this piece on January 6th, 2012.  Now that I can see something of a face, I am feeling more inspired.  This is much different than stitching the Mirabilias.  For one thing, it uses only 1 strand of floss.  Secondly, the fabric is much different and thirdly, each color of floss is scattered around in no particular order which makes stitching in a methodical fashion nonexistent.

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.

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.

A Start on Lady Hera by Mirabilia

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.   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.

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.

I Started Morning Fae

Morning Fae

Passione Ricamo

This is another large start for me this year, however, I doubt I will finish it this year.  I am really enjoying stitching the wings which have quite a lot of metallics (Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid) which are easy to stitch with.  I have been working on it over the past week. This is being stitched on 32 count Picture this Plus Lugana (Legacy).   I plan to leave out the mountain scene because I had a quarter yard piece of fabric and that was not enough for the mountain scene; it would be nice if fabric could be ordered to size to eliminate having to buy a half yard when a tiny bit more than a quarter yard is needed.  I also noticed that sometimes when buying fabric the piece is slightly smaller than the dimensions posted.

Here She Is

South Seas Mermaid by Mirabilia

(For the specifics see a previous post)

The Wings are Completed!

 Fairy Flora by Mirabilia

I am so relieved and happy to have the second wing accomplished!  Although it is hard to tell in the photo, the wings are filled with a metallic blend along with the floss.  The blending filament used in the wings caused this part to be a bear.  Word of advice: find an alternative to kreinik blending filament anytime it is called for in a chart you are stitching.  Almost every strand of blending filament breaks whilst stitching with it, even short strands and threading the needle with it is a test of patience.  Even the beading was a breeze in comparison.  Now that this part is accomplished, the rest is going to be smooth sailing.

The fabric is 32 count Silkweaver Reflections on lugana.  The color is called Enchantment.

Completed South Seas Mermaid!

Design: South Seas Mermaid

Designer: Mirabilia

Stitched By: TJ

Started on: March 05, 2011

Completed on: May 06, 2011

Fabric: 32 count opalescent lugana by

Silkweaver Fabrics

Fabric color: Spring Garden

Fibers: DMC, 

Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid,

DMC variations, Gentle Arts Sampler Threads,

And Mill Hill Beads

If you would like a copy of the changes I have made, e-mail me and I will reply with the info.

Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek at the progress that I have made on South Seas Mermaid.  I should be finished with it within a week.  I have documented the changes that I have made if anyone is interested in it send me an e-mail and I will reply with the info.  In the meantime, I will also be starting Morning Fae by Passione Ricamo:

I was inspired by The Enchanted Burrow.

More Progress on South Seas Mermaid

"South Seas Mermaid" MD-92
by Nora Corbett

Release Date October 16, 2006 

Stitched on Silkweaver's 32 count opalescent lugana Spring Garden

She lives in the warm seas of the South and watches over her precious aquatic garden. Her tail shimmers in the reflective light of her coral castles.  When she plays in the azure water, you may catch a glimpse of her pearly veil.

Progress of Fairy Flora

I completed a wing. I used petite seed beads instead of the regular ones as called for on the chart.  This is being stitched on silkweaver 32 count opalescent lugana called enchantment. Before I attempt the second wing, I will take a break from her for a while and return to South Seas Mermaid.

Letters by Nora

I turned Nora's Letter R...

into a "D" for my niece, Daisy, she is 17 so I hope it is not too juvenile for her.  I changed a few other things too.  The colors are some wdw, and some dmc, the letter is done with Thread Gatherer SNC.  I changed the design of the wings too.  The fabric is 32 count Iris Garden opalescent lugana.  My intention was to do a little at a time spaced across several months but I just got addicted to it as I was stitching it and it took me about a week to start and finish. I hope she will like it.

An Adventurous Journey

I'm at the halfway point now.  Mirabilia's mermaids do not have so much stitching that it takes long, I have only been stitching this one for 18 days.  For me stitching this one is like reading a good adventure novel, seeing a great play or even an adventurous journey because it is so colorful and exciting.  I love so much seeing the image emerge as I add more and more stitches.

A Week with South Seas Mermaid

has produced this:

I loved working with the different colored floss and beads so much that I kept stitching more than I usually do.  I changed a couple things about her too.

Working on two Miras this Week

I love the colors in Fairy Flora and got a good start on the wing but I had to take a break from it because working with Kreinik Blending Filament is like a nightmare, it frays about half way through a strand everytime.  These wings have a lot of blending filament so I will have to pace myself on it.  I like the way it is looking though.

In the meantime...

I started another beautiful Mirabilia.  Can you guess which one this is? That's right, it's South Seas Mermaid and she has a lot of colorful fibers and embellishments to make this project so much fun.

Both of these are on Silkweaver opalescent fabrics.

Started Fairy Flora

 Fairy Flora

New Beginnings are always very exciting

Summer Queen has been Framed

I also finished The Queen Bee by JBW Designs:

Summer Queen is Finished!!

I am finally finished with this one!! I am so relieved. This was one of the largest pieces I have ever accomplished.

A Mirabilia for 2011

Onto my next Mirabilia, this one, Fairy Flora, is just too tempting with all of the sparkle (I have seen some images of this completed on google images and just love it especially on a blue fabric).  This is going to be stitched on 32 count Enchantment opalescent from Silkweaver.  I was inspired by someone on facebook, see here.

Another Milestone

I have made what I consider another milestone achievement on Summer Queen by completing her royal robe.  This part took me 2 1/2 weeks to accomplish.  I also got a start on the strings of beads that hang down her robe.  I expect to be completely done with this in approximately 3 weeks.

Summer Queen on the Home Stretch

Here she is on the longer extender bars.  These are 24 inches from the bottom rod to the top rod.  This is what makes it possible for me to put the beads on as I go and not wait until the end to add them all, I prefer doing it this way and this way the beads do not have to get rolled up.

Last week I calculated roughly 9300 more stitches left to do so if I can get 300 stitches done a day then I can be done in about a month.

Seven Finishes in 2010

In years past, I used to have a lot more finishes but this year I have only completed 7 projects and 1 that is almost finished (Summer Queen). A few of these are quite large so it makes sense. Here is a recap of all that I have accomplished this year:

Mother Earth

Charmed Hearts

Summer Queen Wip

Deepest Love

Alphablu

Isabella's Garden

Queen Bee

The Gathering Room

One Mirabilia at a Time

Slow and steady progress has been made on Summer Queen over the last month though I have not put in as much time as I would have liked and it seems to be dragging on and on. I am tempted to give up. Most of the remaining parts are very dull and I am not usually anxious to work on it. Another week and I will have reached the bottom of the extender bars (assuming I keep plugging away on it) and will be changing them out for longer bars and this has been my focus for the last month but there is so much to do still after that and I keep asking myself why I am doing this.  I feel like this is going very very slowly and I have 3 other Mirabilias kitted up; again, why do I do this to myself.

^progress from Nov. 22 - Dec. 17^

^Previous Progress from Nov.21^