Ideas Needed for a Wedding Design!

My cousin Aldo and his fiancee Federica (in Italy) got in touch with me this weekend and asked what I thought about them getting married in Scotland next summer. They got engaged in Scotland last year, and they would really love to get hitched here too. They also asked if I'd mind being their "wedding planner", as there's a lot of stuff they obviously can't organise themselves from Italy. I was honoured they asked and I'm very excited about the whole thing. I hope it all works out and they'll be able to manage it.

Federica, who is the same age as me, is very into crafts. She doesn't stitch much - yet (I'm working on that!), but she makes beautiful patchwork designs and other things. She gave me this as a gift when they were here 11 months ago:

And I gave them this:


She is one person I know who really loves and appreciates stitched gifts... So my point to all this is, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to what I could stitch them as a wedding present? I wanted something very special. I considered one of the Lavender & Lace wedding designs, but I don't know if I fancy the pressure of trying to finish something so huge in less than 10 months. Does anyone have any favourite wedding/marriage designs? I would really love and appreciate any ideas you may have - even a sampler would be nice, it dosn't have to be L&L/Mira style.

Luckily I didn't ever get around to giving her the link for my blog, so it's OK for me to talk about this on here for just now!


I haven't had a huge amount of time to stitch this week. I've been working on A Stitch in Pine (by Hillside Samplings):

Closer up:


Thanks everyone for your lovely comments on my last two "happy dances", I appreciated each and every one. :)

As for how I managed to complete Halloween Fairy so quickly (10 days). It really wasn't difficult at all -- she isn't even half the size of a normal Mirabilia design. In fact, I think she was even easier and faster to stitch than the freebie Mirabilia angels/cherubs! Of course that was the only thing I stitched on during that period. I find that I can happily be a one at a time stitcher if the project only takes about 10 days to complete. I find that's normally my time limit and then I start getting bored - hence why I take a LONG time completing larger projects! ;-)

Quaker Meetinghouse Finish!

I didn't think I'd manage to finish this today, but it's been MISERABLE outside, so it was the perfect night to stay in and stitch. :) Karen and I have been doing this as a SAL. We had to put it away for a wee while after we ran out of the Tartan Plaid Crescent Colours, and only picked it up again yesterday. I couldn't put it down until I'd finished. What can I say, I loved stitching on it that much. :)

A few details: mine was stitched on Kiwi Illusions Tussock Belfast linen with all the suggested Crescent Colour threads. Halloween Fairy was also done completely in Crescent Colours and I have to say this is my favourite cotton floss now. It's absolutely wonderful to stitch with. It states you'll need 2 skeins of the Tartan Plaid for this design... I needed about 2.5, and I think if you're stitching it 2 over 2 on 28/30/32 Count you'll definitely need more than 2 skeins.

Thank you again Karen for the extra skein of Tartan Plaid thread. I can't wait to see yours!!

Halloween Fairy Happy Dance!

Just a quick post from me, seeings as I've just taken a photo of my new happy dance and wanted to share it. ;-)

She only took 10 days to complete. Fabric: Sugar Maple Fabrics Burnt Papyrus 28-Count Lugana. I ran out of Crescent Colours Dandelion Stem *and* Black Coffee. I'd recommend purchasing a second skein of the Dandelion Stem and making sure the dye lots are the same. As I said in a previous post, if you happen to run out of the Black Coffee (which you may not - I only just ran out), I don't think it's a big deal using a very dark brown shade of DMC for the backstitching (e.g. in the wings) instead, rather than having to buy a whole additional skein.

Of course, as this is a kit, you may want to contact the manufacturers to see if they'll send out the extra floss you need? After all, you're spending all that money, they should really be giving you enough of the materials you need.

Wonderful & Dreadful Online Stitching Stores

I received a wonderful package from Needlecraft Corner today. I'm sure I've mentioned Needlecraft Corner before. It's my most favourite Online Stitching store par none. There are always great sales on, but what makes this store so wonderful to me is the customer care and attention you receive. Drema (the owner) is one of the nicest people you could ever meet. They will go out of their way to order things in for you, have them sent exactly the way you want, etc.. They must make notes in all their customers files to help them remember how we all like to have our orders shipped -- e.g. for me, if it's a medium/large order I always, always prefer to have it shipped Global Priority, for safety (and it doesn't hurt that it gets here so quickly either!); but if it's a smaller (in size and expense too) order then Air Mail does. :)

I've been fortunate not to have had too many bad experiences with Online Stitching Stores, but unfortunately my luck ran out this summer when I had the misfortune of ordering from Diana Tharpe of Stitcher's Dream in Texas.

Long story short: ignored e-mails, then followed by obvious lies, ended in me being forced to initiate a PayPal chargeback as a refund was not forthcoming. This concluded in my favour this past weekend, but unfortunately they were "unable to recover any funds from the seller's account". What does this mean? I'm out $35, as I doubt very much that Diana Tharpe is going to refund the money she has taken stolen or send the item that I ordered in early July.

It's *truely* not the money that makes me upset, it's the fact that people can get away with this... do they not even have a conscience? It's a shame too, because it's put me off ordering from smaller stores that I haven't heard a great deal about.

Drema's package came at exactly the right time, as I was feeling quite down about the whole dreadful experience earlier this week.

This definitely put a smile on my face, which arrived with a sweet note:

:-)

I thought I deserved a stitching treat after working so hard all summer! That Picture This Plus linen is to die for! It's not something I'd have found any other use for I don't think, but it's perfect for that Christmas Tree design.

Leslie: the only two colours you need to worry about running out of with Halloween Fairy are the Black Coffee and Dandelion Stem. I think I JUST have enough of the Black Coffee, but it won't be a disaster if I run out, as I can easily use a dark brown shade of DMC for the backstitching, wings, etc.. there's not enough variegation (in the dye lot I got anyway) for it to make a difference. Dandelion Stem on the other hand would definitely be a problem. I've only just started using it for the wings, but I can already tell that it'll be unlikely I'll have enough. I luckily have another skein of this in my stash (which was for another project), and the dye lot looks to be the same. Definitely watch out for that, though.

Nicki: fantastic you'd like to do a Mira SAL at some point! :) I'll let you know what I have in my stash... I'd be really happy to do any of the ones you've mentioned really! I got Autumn In My Garden today from Drema too. ;-)

Don't be impressed at me doing Rainbow Ride at such a young age. Did you see those huge blocks of colours?! It was VERY easy! :) I tried to stitch Angel Procession a year or two later, and it sadly had to go in the bin! (I think that's the only cross stitch project I've ever had to literally throw away) LOL

Halloween Fairy

OK, I sort of cheated and started a Mirabilia Limited Edition Fairy. ;-) I wanted to have another happy dance soon!! I'd like to get this finished and framed in time for Halloween. I don't have many Halloween pieces and it's fun to put them up during those holidays. :)

The coverage isn't actually bad, as the fabric is 28-Count Lugana (Sugar Maple Fabric's Burnt Papyrus). I'm a bit of a linen snob, and normally don't use below 32-Count anymore, but I had a fat 1/8th of this in my stash and thought it would work well. It just would have been MORE perfect if it had been a fat 1/8th of Belfast linen instead! ...or maybe not... the dye is different on evenweaves and linens as everyone knows, and it may have been too dark if it had been the linen, so I'm sure it worked out just fine. ;-) I saw this stitched recently on Sugared Snickerdoodles linen (also by SMF) and oh my GOSH it was BEAUTIFUL, I almost ordered it myself... but I didn't want to wait for it to get here (being the impatient soul that I am).

She looks kind of spooky with no limbs or head, doesn't she? Ach well, it's Halloween, so I can get away with creepy... ha!


Someone asked why I don't scan my stitching rather than take photos as I always do. Well, I guess it's just personal preference. Sometimes I couldn't scan them anyway, as they're too big for the scanner... but I feel on the scanner there's sometimes TOO much detail and I'd have to tweak them anyway... Yeah, the digital camera is my friend. :) I only wish I'd had a digi cam in the 1990s... there is so much stuff I gave away before I had the chance to take photos.

Take these two:









Rainbow Ride was the first large project I ever stitched when I was very young (like 13 - so it would have been circa 1988), and I stitched "Break Time" a year or two later (both by Design WorksTM and still available to buy). My grandparents brought them both over to the family house in Italy where they've been ever since, and I only finally got some photos of them taken a couple of years ago! Now I just need to track down the rest... !

Wendy: I forgot to mention the other day, that although I won't actually be finishing Deco Spirits into a bellpull (it'll be framed), I'm stitching it bellpull style rather than the way it's charted.

Wonderful Surprise and some progress...

I got a wonderful surprise in the mail today!! Karen had told me yesterday that the Tartan Plaid thread for our Quaker Meetinghouse SAL was on the way, but she didn't tell me that she was also sending her pattern for "This Too Shall Pass" Scissor Keep! I was admiring her beautiful finish a few weeks ago, and was kicking myself for not buying it when I had the chance.

(sorry I should have taken it out of the plastic before taking the photo)

Thank you so much, Karen. That was the sweetest and kindest thing and has made my day. :-)


I've had a few relaxing days off this week. I haven't managed to get much stitching done though, as I've been doing other things. This is how far I got on Heart's Secret before putting it away:


It looks WEIRD (and not necessarily a good weird) - I mean blending overdyed silks?! especially those colours! Well, it was annoying me, so I decided to put it away for a bit... I'll probably get over the weirdness the next time I get it out!

I started a new Mirabilia instead!! It wasn't Stargazer, though. I'll take a progress pic over the weekend and let you see. ;-)

I think (hope!) the blog has gone back to normal, as I haven't had any more problems loading the page, and as nobody has said otherwise...

Blog Problems

Carol, Thanks for pointing that out to me. I've been getting it too, and was hoping that it was only effecting me!

I haven't changed to beta blogger, so it can't be that. I'm wondering if it's the NeoCounter Tool? I've taken it away temporarily to see if that makes a difference (though I've kept NeoEarth).

Please let me know if anyone is still getting any script errors.

If anyone has any tips they're always welcome too - my HTML skills are basic to say the least! ;-)

Thank you!


*Edited to Add*

Well, that didn't work! I've now taken away NeoEarth too.


*Edited to Add (again - sorry!)*

It appears it was NeoEarth [though I'm still not 100% sure]. Apparently when there are too many "hits" on the counter it starts to malfunction, because it can't cope. Hmmm. OK. Wish I'd known that before spending £6 for the 6-month premium subscription! Lucky I wasn't tempted to get the 12-month subscription. I think I can still use it, as long as I use the "list the last 100 cities only" option; or something similar. I'll look into that another time.

Old & New Projects

Thank you for all the lovely comments on Petal Fairy everyone. :) I appreciate them so much.

As for what I'm going to work on next... Well, I started a new project this weekend: the Victoria Sampler's Heart's Secret by Cathy Jean. It's a very cute project that hopefully shouldn't take too long to complete. I'm having a hard time getting used to the very weird blends the chart calls for, though. Don't get me wrong, I've done my fair share of blends (read Teresa Wentzler), but blending variegated overdyed silks (Gloriana) is just really strange to me, especially colours as vibrant as this!

I told myself that I wouldn't start a new Mirabilia until I finished Petal Fairy, so I may have a new start soon now that she's done. I'm a little undecided as to which, but the favourite at the moment is Stargazer. I still have Deco Spirits as a WIP too, and I want to work on that a little over the next week or two. I started it 2 years ago and I absolutely LOVE it, I don't know why I've only finished the first block! I've started a little on the second block too, so it should be easy to get back into. I took a photo of the Earth block that I've completed:


The one thing about Deco Spirits that you can never tell from any photos is how much it sparkles. There is a ton of Kreinik used (I switched to #4 and Petite Treasure Braid). It's really stunning. This is a fairly big project, but as it's 4 separate blocks (Earth, Air, Water & Fire) you get to have a mini happy dance when you complete each one. :) If you're a stitcher you know how important having a happy dance (even if it's only a mini one) is! :))

Then of course I have Village of Hawk Run Hollow calling out to me too. I haven't touched it since I finished the first block... I also really need to work on finishing Gloria by The Silver Lining, as I want to get it finished and framed in time for Christmas, for nonna.

So I have lots to keep me busy. I'm trying very hard not to start lots of new projects, no matter how tempted I am. I love almost all of my WIPs, so I should show them the attention they deserve. ;-)