Get Rhythm

If you read this blog regularly  you will know I have had a terrible time finding my "rhythm" on my "Rhythm" Muse by Nora Corbett.

She is stunning. The colours are fantastic - my fabric was fantastic. She started so fast out the gate and full of promise and then...........Nothing. Lost her mojo. Couldn't get it back. I would do tiny little pieces at a time. I uploaded songs with the word rhythm in them to listen to as I worked - it just wasn't happening.

So she went away for awhile.  Now, I was desperate for a new start and I am not a serial starter by most standards. I had Dressmaker's Daughter on the go. I am working on Farmer's Market, I have my Round Robin's and then Rhythm.  I knew I couldn't possibly start another without finishing one.  So I set off to finish Rhythm.

I frogged and redid  the back stitching 3 times because the colour wasn't working - then the fabric puckered and pulled. When I was finally satisfied I only had beads left to do.  That honestly wasn't too bad and I got that done in one sitting.

The piece was stitched on 30 count Weeks Dye Works linen in Tiger Eye - gorgeous.  But after all the pulling and frogging - the fabric looked fuzzy and gappy. So I decided to give it a bath.... Yeah, great idea. First time I try to wash something the dye runs like a mo-fo.   The water turned immediately orange.  Just one more F-up to this pattern.

Bad news, the dye ran and turned my bright vibrant colours to a muted version of itself. Good news, the piece dyed equally so it doesn't really look like anything went wrong. It looks more anitqued version of Nora's vision.  I am horribly disappointed to lose the bright vibrant coloured effect of this pattern, but the end result is still quite stunning.

Without further ado, here is my Rhythm.

The pattern called for Mill Hill butterflies - gorgeous - expensive. These little fellas were $.50 a piece and the go great, in my opinion with the pattern.

Very pretty beads! But ready for this - the damage - below is a picture of 162 next to the 162 in the piece after the "dye" job - or antiquing as I like to call it. Huge difference eh?

But all in all....

.... she is a beautiful addition to my Mirabilia family. Even though she really gave me a hard time!

Now that I have her in my back pocket it made way for me to start the pattern I have been longing to have since I got back into stitching - Red Lady Pirate! I can't wait to share her with you.  

November already? Where did October go?

Oh yes, October went west. I am officially home in Calgary Alberta.  It took us one full week of driving about 8 hours a day, but we made it.  We had 2 flats - one blow out on the U haul crossing Manitoba and a slow leak in my car in Saskatchewan.  The girls were very good.  Incredible little travelers really.

So here I sit - blogging away - I have a home office now - which I really love.  It is my little sanctuary in the house. I keep my work stuff in there, but also my scrap booking stuff - which I have yet to use and of course my stitching stuff.

I have managed to get some things done while I have been absent - let me show you....

First we have Dress Maker's Daughter by Mirabilia. I finally finished Spring - minus the beads.  This project is going to go away for a while. I have decided to make a new start before I begin the second half.  It is a lot stitching in this solid piece. It is beautiful but I hope not to see DMC 819 for a long time!

I stitched another RR block - this RR the owner asked we leave the beads off.  It is a beautiful and very interesting RR that doesn't stick with the conventional "cameos".  My block was from Mermaids of the Deep Blue.

I did start a new project. It is a Christmas piece called "The Spirit of Christmas" by Lynda Orme and it is from Cross-Stitch & Needlework 2010.  I am stitching it on a self dyed piece using DMC verigated #99 for the red. Incidentally, I ran out of the red and can't find it anywhere locally. Luckily, a friend from a stitching group offered to send me some! Thank you! When it is done, I plan on shipping it to my mom who is going to make it into a wall hanging. 

I also had a chance to try my hand at framing. This is my first time framing something so big and I am pretty happy with the way they turned out. I had these frames on hand.  So now Scent of Old Roses and Golden Girl Apples are on display in my home.

I also have a very well deserved, special finish to share with you - but she deserves her own post! I started working on Red Lady Pirate last night and I also have been preparing for my next Round Robin which is to start in January 2013. 

Thanks for taking a look!

Oh - there is a give away - wanna sign up? Go see Victorian Motto Sample Shop blog - tell them I sent you please! It gives me more entries.

-Jocelyn