Thursday, March 31, 2016

One week from now...

...I will be in (or hopefully almost in) Cincinatti, Ohio for the Mirabilia retreat. After attending the first two events, I missed out last year, so I'm looking forward to seeing my Mira friends again.

I've made a start on one of the newest Nora Corbett releases, The Blossom Collector, so I can take it with me to work on during the retreat. The chart photo makes her look very pink, so I chose SMF Hummingbird Lugana to try to soften that pink up a bit; so far, so good:


Judy Odell of Just a Thought Needlework Design recently asked for some small stitched pieces to finish for a new technique that she was working on. I sent her my Monsterbubbles Twitter finish, and she sent it back to me like this:


How cute is that?! She has shared the pdf with the instructions in her FB group, Just a Thought Needlework Design.

Judy has also started selling a stretcher frame set (info can be found in the group), and I bought one from her almost as soon as she released them, as I have long been wondering how to handle the piece of fabric I need for the HAED I bought over four years ago. The design is Foxglove Ball, and the stitch count is 625 x 833; on 25ct fabric over-1 the fabric needs to be at least 31" x 39". I got the 36" rods from Judy, cut my fabric to 32" wide and loaded the whole yard length onto the frame:


It has great tension, and of course works perfectly with my JAT stand. I recently printed out the entire 129-page pattern (which has it's own binder!), and I've had the floss ready for years:


Now I just need  to work up the courage to actually start something that daunting! To paraphrase an old saying "The masterpiece of 520,625 stitches starts with a single stitch". If I worked on nothing but this project (as if!), and completed one page a month, I could have this done in 10 years...

Hope everyone has a great stitchy weekend!

8 comments:

  1. I love your new Mira She is so romantic and I'm thinking to buy this pattern .
    Your project will be a very big big adventure but you have reason one x and let's start. Casacenina shipped the third part of the Mystery I think to receive it tomorrow or next Monday (Saturday and Sunday courier don't work ). I look forward to met Nora in Verona on May the 7th; for me is the first time . Now I'm going to sleep it is later.... good night big hugs

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  2. The Mira is going to be fabulous, the colors go perfectly with that fabric. Thanks for letting us know about the stretcher frame set. I may have to check that out!

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  3. Love your Mirablilia on your chosen fabric. It should look stunning, just like your finished piece which has definitely been given wonderful treatment. As for your new start... yikes! A page a month for 10 years is a long commitment but will produce an absolutely stunning piece. On your marks, get set..... :)

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  4. Great start, and cute finish.
    That's quite an amazing piece you are going to stitch.
    Have fun at the retreat!
    Marilyn

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  5. Blossom Collector is a lovely pattern and I really like the fabric you chose to balance out the pink. Your needlebook looks wonderful - what a special finish for your lovely stitching!
    I can't imagine how you are going to stitch on such a huge frame but that design is stunning!

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  6. Beautiful stitching I'm excited to watch your foxglove ball progress :)

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  7. Great start and your finish is so cute- love the roses. I'll be a the retreat too, looking forward to meeting you! ~Stephanie

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  8. That stand looks intriguing. Thank you for the link :)

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