First Big Happy Dance of 2011!!! & TUSAL

Yes, I know, I know I've been silent for days and days haven't I?  I've been quiet for two reasons, first of all I've been furiously stitching and second, I've been feeling meh again and haven't felt like doing anything!  Getting out of bed in the morning has been very difficult, I've had to really make myself go to work, I've not been motivated to exercise, and I have to admit I don't want to go anywhere lately.

Art Deco Spirits

c1996 Nora Corbett - Mirabilia

Stitched on 32ct Jazlyn with DMC, Kreinik #4, Rainbow Galleries Pettite Treasure Braid

I started Art Deco Spirits on January 1st of 2009 as a part of a Stitch-A-Long with my friends Kathy, Beatrice, and Christin.  Kathy and Beatrice were great to get their Mirabilias done that year, Christin and I ... well we took a little longer.  Other projects just kept grabbing my attention.  In 2010 instead of joining my friends in a New Year's Day start/SAL I decided it was the year I would start getting projects out of my stitching basket!  Art Deco Spirits was one of the projects that had been left unloved in my basket for far too long (but not as long as other projects).

Last year after finishing Celestial Dragon, it was Art Deco's turn to come out and play!  I have been plugging away at this beauty for some months now and I'm proud to say "Its Done!"

People are surprised to find out that  yes, this piece is a Miriabilia an early one, number 19 to be exact.  I bought the chart during my first trip to the Creativ Festival in Toronto back in 2001 where I saw it on display as a model.  It took far too many years to come to the top of the must stitch pile and I spent far too long working ignoring it once started.  Despite all the metallics it was a joy to stitch!

I am so happy with this piece.

I did make some slight changes with the metallic threads.  The model which is stitched on 32ct is stitched with #8 braid.  Right away, I changed that to #4 braid.  Also the gold metallic is supposed to be DMC 284Z which is the worst stuff on earth!  I used Rainbow Galleries Pettite Treasure Braid PB01 instead, lovely to work with.

So what's next on the horizon you may ask?  I have a bunch of quilt blocks to stitch up, for a quilt my dear friend Marie-Paule is helping me with.  She had this completed back in August and I fell in love with it!  Marie-Paule offered to hook me up to copy what she created.  I've also got some stitching friends lined up to help me out.  These will also be my travel stitching in two weeks when I head down to the Dominican Republic on a third world experience for one week.  There is also my upcoming March Break trip to Arizona, I'll be travelling and sitting in airports for 11-12 hours there and back, lots of stitching time!!!

My Focus project is going to be Enchantment Of Winter by Dimples Designs (Terrance Nolan), which I made a small start on in the fall.  This piece is going to be a challenge for sure!  I'm stitching it on the recommended 32ct linen and the whole center of the design is stitched over one!  My friend Ann, owner of Knowledge and Needles sells these great LED light/magnifiers and I'll be buying one soon for sure!  This piece will be a labour of love for sure!

Of course I'm going to continue my 10x10 daily blocks on the Accolade, which I'm ashamed to say I haven't touched since I could see Art Deco's finish line so close!

Thursday was the New Moon so time for the TUSAL!  Here is my jar looking quite prettyful filled with lots of threads from Art Deco Spirits.  I love watching the layers of my projects develop.  Now the colours will change to purple and gold as I work on Enchantment!