False start....

It was supposed to be Wood Warblers I this week on rotation.   Warblers is part of one of my "grand plan" large projects - it's actually a series of two rather large bellpulls from Crossed Wings Collection and includes some lovely songbirds, foliage and flowers that change for every bird, some over-1 stitching, etc.   I had to buy a full yard of linen for them (28 count because of the over-1 areas) and split lengthwise to have two 18x55 pieces;  since there were a lot of overlapping colors I built one large box of floss for both of them to share (and all of them wouldn't fit in one box).    When they're both finish, I will get some fancy schmancy bellpull hardware and a yard of fabulous (probably floral) tapestry fabric to finish them off.   I envision them being hung on either side of the front door or perhaps on either side of the picture window in the dining room.

Just couldn't get into working on it this week for some reason.

I did finish the first bird and surrounding flora though, so that's one down, eight more to go for this bellpull. I also did all the backstitching because I want to finish one bird completely before I move on. There's just too much backstitching in the overall piece to leave it to the end and then do it all at once.

The bird's eye is over one, and I'll be honest, it looks a little flat to me.   Having had pet birds on and off all my life, their eyes are small and black - if you look very close, you can see some color variation, but they're definitely not pale blue/white as this one appears.  Grumble, grumble.  Unfortunately because it IS over one and multiple colors, it's nearly impossible to frog and fix this bird's.   But I'll adjust the others.

So, what did I work on instead of Warblers this week?   Funny you should ask....

 The Kiss!  Yes, it's another Mirabilia.   I actually didn't have a lot of stitching time this week but with the holiday weekend here (and being subjugated to lots of car racing on television this weekend), I should get a fair amount done.  I am going to get in another day or two working on Warblers.

I had picked up some of the bling for The Kiss a couple weeks ago.   The pattern calls for #8 Kreinik which frankly I hate to work with.   Fortunately I found a needlepoint store not too far from me that stocks (!!!) a huge amount of Kreiniks, so I went through and matched up good substitutes - some exact, one or two very close - in #4 Kreiniks.   I also got most of the beads;  I know I'm short a couple packets but obviously am not in dire need of getting them anytime soon.

The Kiss is one of the more petite Mirabilias, and is unusual in that almost all of the background is filled in.  As you can see, I've been working on the blue skies.  Most of the background fabric will be covered.   I wish I had a little bit more room on the right and left hand sides of the fabric but there's just a 3 inch margin on either side of the design since the fabric is a "leftover" piece from another project (Garden Verses which is not yet started).  I might have to downsize to an 8 x 11 Qsnap frame to work on it a little easier.   The fabric is a 32 count belfast linen in apricot.   It's more orange-y than the picture shows but it's a nice color.

I've also had a little fun this week playing with some future Mira projects.   First of all, the Amsterdam Blue that I was going to do Queen Mermaid on is history - I was never 100% about that as a background color and I've decided to nix it.  Already had the fabric, so it will just go back into stash until it has a home.  Instead, I am going to get another fabric for her.  I don't really want to do another blue background, and I really like the look of her on a grey fabric.   The current frontrunner of fabric options is Pearl Grey Zweigart belfast linen.  If I can find a shaded hand dyed grey, I may consider that.

Also, a fellow stitcher on one of the Mirabilia Yuku boards pointed out that when you hang Queen Mermaid side to side with Deepest Love, the curves of their bodies is complimentary and they make a great pair.  Definately something to think about!  When I get around to ordering fabric for Queen Mermaid, I will get enough to also do Deepest Love if I chose to do them as a pair.

I'm also still tweaking my Rose of Sharon conversion.   I know I want to do her on cream belfast, and am changing her dress to lavender (or possibly rose pinks) and the ruffle to cream.   I'm getting down the colors for both conversions right now, and will decide when it's time to start kitting her up.  RoS is a ways off though...obviously lots of projects to get finished (and started) before I get to her.

A New Year, A New Start

So much going on right now! I may be slow posting over the next couple weeks because I have a LOT going on.

First and foremost, I'll be moving from Maryland to the Valley Forge area of Pennsylvania, and moving in with my fiance. Ack! I'm sorting through all of my stuff and having a good "purge". I haven't properly unpacked all of my worldly goods for 7 or 8 years, because I've been in houseshare situations rather than in my own apartment. In theory, I want to put my hands on everything I own at this point, and make a "keep, sell, donate, or trash" decision about it. In reality, I probably won't get through all of the packed boxes from previous moves (alot of kitchen stuff and the like that I just didn't need to unpack). They're fairly well labeled, so it's easier to just move them, and if there's stuff I need to get rid of once I unpack, it'll go then.

I'm also starting the Post Graduate Job Hunt...ack! I'm in a good industry, but good jobs in general aren't easy to come by. I may have to take something less-than-ideal for the time being but we'll see.

And then there's the wedding plans...we have the "basics" taken care of - church, reception venue, photographer, and DJ all have deposits, but sooner rather than later I need to work through all of the details.

So yeah...no worries, right? Yes, my anxiety level is rather high right now.

Stitching-wise, I started on Wood Warblers I, which is a bellpull from Crossed Wing Collection. (Yes, there's a Wood Warblers II and I'm doing that as well) Because there are some areas that are over-1, I've opted to use a 28 count Cashel (in cream) instead of my usual 32 count. Because there are so many overlap colors between the two pieces, I just bought one set of floss for both and carded it up.

They're large bellpulls - 7 inchs by 49 inches when it's all said and done. Because of the length, I bought a yard piece of fabric and split it lengthwise. It's a little wider than it needs to be but it lets me use a slightely wider frame, which works for me.

Whenever I finish them both (2011? LOL), my plan is to get a yard of really fabulous tapestry material to back them on, and finish them as bellpulls. I can picture them hanging on either side of a room opening or the front door of the house (but I suspect no matter how hard I pull on them, servants are NOT going to appear!)

Wood Warblers is currently put away, and I'm back working on one of my older "in progress" projects. I had a little splurge on some new cross stitch supplies and am getting a few projects kitted up (will post pictures later - orders are still trickling in - you can see in the "coming soon" section some of the projects I've been putting together). I need to finish up a couple projects before I get started on any more new ones though.