Mar 26 2012

March Stitching Update (Photo Heavy)

Posted on 26 March, 2012 by TheDailyMel

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been over a month since my last post. This is the longest gap on my blog in a really long time and I apologize for just sort of disappearing. One would think I would be blogging all the time since I’m stuck at home on short-term disability, but the whole situation with my knee has me a bit depressed since around the first of the year. I didn’t want to come on here and just moan and complain, so I just didn’t write at all. I’ll discuss more about that whole situation in my next post which I promise won’t take another month for me to write.

For now, the bulk of my life over the past six weeks can be summed up in four S’s:

Sit
Study
Stitch
Sleep

I tried to figure out a good S word for eating, but the only thing I could come up with was Sup and I didn’t care that much for it. I’ve decided to focus this particular blog post on the stitching part. No, don’t worry, I won’t devote entire blog posts to sitting or sleeping.

Since it’s been so long since I posted, I haven’t done this month’s recap for the WIPocalypse challenge. Given the month is nearly over, I guess I’d better get to it! As always, feel free to click the photos for a larger image. Without further adieu, here are my latest progress photos:

Lady Alexandra by Mirabilia

Petite Christmas Angel by Joan Elliott

Plum Blossom Kimono by Margaret Bending

I have a new work in progress that I started on 16 March 2012. It’s Cirque des Cercles by Ink Circles (be sure to check out the gallery!). Being the geek that I am, the geometric aspects of this design really appeal to me. I’m stitching it over two on black Belfast linen (32-count) using one strand of Examplar Fire Thorn premium silk from Vikki Clayton at Hand-Dyed Fibers.

Cirque des Cercles by Ink Circles

I also managed to get in three finishes this month. Go me! Two are related to the Mirabilia round robin I’m taking part in over at TWRRB (The Worldwide Round Robin Board). One was my piece before it went out for the first round, and the other was Tracy‘s piece which I received for the first round. My theme is pixies and her theme is mermaid tails.

My Round Robin

My Sweet Pea Square

Tracy's Round Robin

My Square on Tracy's RR

Another finish I had this month was following a class I took on March 10. The class was hosted by the El Segundo Blue EGA chapter and taught by local designer, Margaret Bendig. It was for her “A Stitcher’s Box” design which is a silk dupioni covered box with a stitched lid. Inside the box is a coordinating fob and needle book. I still need to assemble my box and make the smalls, but I have the stitching for the box top finished.

A Stitcher's Box by Margaret Bendig

I really enjoyed the class a lot! I’ve always wanted to learn how to make a fabric covered box, and I now I have that information. The chapter really went above and beyond for the class. They actually stitched every attendee a name tag!

My Name Tag Courtesy of the El Segundo Blue EGA Chapter

I also bit the bullet this month and took in a couple of pieces to be framed. I still haven’t received one of them back because one of the mats I selected was discontinued. I was able to go pick up the other one though and love how it turned out! This is my Rosemarkie from Long Dog Samplers (stitched over one on 25-count Monaco using Dragon Blood silk from Vikki Clayton) custom framed with double suede mats, black frame, and museum glass (pardon my ironing board).

Rosemarkie by Long Dog Samplers

As long as I’m posting updates, I should also include my March update for the TUSAL. As evidenced in my photos, I definitely did a LOT of stitching this month! I don’t think I’ve ever stitched enough in a single month before to basically fill two ort jars (these are the small candle jars from Yankee Candle). I’m really amazed by how full my cumulative year-to-date can of orts is getting already!

March Orts

Year-to-date orts and empty jars ready for April!

Lastly, I have a few stash-related updates as well. Part of it was due to birthday gift certificates (Thanks, Tracy & Darla!), part of it was taking advantage of the birthday discount from Drema at Needlecraft Corner, and part of it was from failing miserably at my 2012 Great Stash Diet. Oh well, at least I lasted until the end of February. Here are my latest pretties:

Stargazer by Mirabilia on Angel Dust from Polstitches

Santa's Magic & Christmas Elegance by Mirabilia

Even More Birthday Stash!

Silver Moon Tea by Mirabilia

In case you’re wondering, no, I didn’t buy Water Lily twice. I just accidentally photographed her twice.

If you’ve made it through all these photos to reach the end of this post, kudos to you! That’s some real dedication as a reader. As I said earlier, I promise to not take so long before my next update. I need to bring everyone up to speed on my weight loss journey, my knee surgery, etc.

Until next time …

Dec 22 2011

Mirabilia Round Robin Planning

Posted on 22 December, 2011 by TheDailyMel

As I posted a couple of weeks ago, I’m going to be participating in a Mirabilia themed round robin on the world-wide round robin board next year. Since we’re going to be starting in late February or early March, I decided it was time for me to start earnestly making plans for my piece. I figure this will give me plenty of time to get my outlines done and my part stitched before it needs to go into the mail.

As a theme for my piece, I’ve decided to go with the lovely ladies from the Pixie Couture collection. I’m going to be using some 28-count opalescent Lugana for my fabric. These are the charts I have decided to use in my piece (as always, click to biggify):

We set a limit in our RR of no more than 2500 stitches per section to keep the sizes reasonable. I’ve opted to go with a 45×55 rectangle for each section. This photo shows the sections of each chart I’m planning to use as well as how they’ll be laid out in the piece:

I still need to decide what I’m going to include in the center area, but it will be something along the lines of the year and all of our names. For the outline around each pixie, I’m thinking of using the coordinating Kreinik braid that goes with each pixie. After all, one can never have enough bling and sparkle, right?

I know a lot of folks will be going offline over the next week or so due to the holidays. For those of you to whom that applies, I just wanted to take a minute in closing to wish you all a very safe & happy holiday season. Here’s to hoping for a wonderfully & healthy 2012 for us all! For those who will be around over the holidays, you’ll get another holiday greeting in a few days.

Dec 12 2011

Weekend Stitching – Another Finish

Posted on 12 December, 2011 by TheDailyMel

Since I’m stuck at home most of the time right now due to a bum knee, I’m getting in some good stitching time. It gives me a much welcome break from studying for finals for school!

After finishing Sunflower Fairy recently, I decided to go through my WIPs and pull out a couple of smaller projects that I thought I could get knocked out before year’s end. Pear Tree is part of the ornament of the month series from Little House Needleworks. We won’t discuss how long ago I started it. All that matters is that it’s finished now. Here is a pic of my finish followed by a close-up view that shows off the beads. As always, click to biggify.

After I finished that piece on Saturday. I pulled out It is Never Too Late from Primrose Needleworks. I love the saying on this piece! It’s a quote from author George Eliot (who was actually a woman in case you didn’t know). I’m thinking of framing it and hanging in my office after I finish it. Anyway, I think I made really good progress on it. Here are pics of before I started stitching on it this weekend followed by the after pic showing how much I got done on it. I hope I can finish it this week as well, but time will tell since I’ve got finals. It would be really nice to mark another WIP off my list.

I also signed up for the WIPocalypse 2012 that Measi is coordinating on her blog. There are lots of familiar faces on the participant list, so it’ll be fun to see how we all fare. I’ll be spending time over the Christmas holiday coming up with my list of projects I want to focus on for the challenge.

I’ve also made some progress in my decision-making for the Mirabilia round robin over at TWRRB (The Worldwide Round Robin Board). Sign-ups closed a few days ago and we ended up with eight stitchers in our group. I’ve decided to use the Pixie Couture collection for my theme. Now that I know exactly how many stitchers will be in the group, I can get more serious about figuring out my exact layout and which of the pixies I want to use for it. Our first mailing date isn’t going to be until late February/early March, so I’ve still got time to sort it out.

Well, that’s it for now. Until next time …