Coral Charms by Nora Corbett

Last night I finished Coral Charms. I was so delighted to finish my third cross stitching this year. My goal was five this year; may have to revisit and increase my goal. The conversion on this one was simple and manageable. I added simple eye lines and lips to give her more of a face. Coral Charms is stitched on Monet 16 count Aida by Picture this Plus fabric. The conversion can be found on the Conversions Tab at the top of the page or click here.

I finally received my fabric from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie. I am not fond of writing bad reviews. So, I will start with the good. Stephanie is very quick to respond to questions. I sent an email after three weeks of no update to ask when my fabric would be ready, and received a response with in a few hours. Here is the pictures of what I ordered from her website.

Jaded                                                       Silvermist

Both of these look to be pictured on some sort of linen fabric. The Silvermist is on opalescents.

The fabric was ordered in Adia on March 15; shipping notice was received on April 12. It took a month to get the fabric. When the fabric arrived the envelope was in pretty bad shape. The corner was ripped up and I was concerned that the fabric was damaged. (If I was shipping I would have put it in the padded envelope which is the same shipping cost.) Open the package and nothing was damaged. Thank goodness. I had been waiting a month and needed to get started on the Silvermist fabric for Christmas gifts this year, and did not want to wait another month. All of the fabric was in one bag. My personal preference is separate bags for storage with their project. That is neither here nor their. Just cost a little extra for me to get big ziplock bags for each. The fabric is very stiff. At first I thought maybe it is just the Silvermist because it is opalescents, but the Jaded was stiff as well. Not as ridged as the Silvermist but stiffer than my other hand dyed fabrics I have received recently. Finally here is what my fabric looks like:

What are your thoughts of how what I received compares to the online pictures?

Start Coral Charm by Nora Corbett

Our eleven year old son is a boy scout. From time to time we will schedule a merit badge he wants to take at the museum. While the class is fairly inexpensive, it does take an hour to get down there. The classes are four hours long. Being that we have done several scout classes including tours, what am I to do for four hours while sitting waiting for him. That's right cross stitch. While it wasn't a start I did get quite a bit done with what turned out to be three and a half hours of no interruptions.

Today I took a break from cross stitching and from almost everything else, and made a baby quilt for one of my husbands employees whos wife had a baby girl last month. I know I am so behind, I should of had this done and to them before the baby was born. First, husband didn't tell me one of his employees was expecting a bundle of joy until the week of. Second, his employee has been off and then allowed to work remotely from home to enjoy his baby girl for the first few weeks. Makes me feel not so bad, but still not a good excuse. Need to get a couple of girl and boy ones made up so when someone says oh John or Jane is expecting I can just pull it out. Maybe one day. Here is the one I whipped together today. I did a 'rag' quilt so I didn't have to wait for it to come back from the quilters.

Put a nice boarder around it for a finishing touch.

While I had the sewing machine out I also put binding on one of two quilts that have been waiting for two months now. In need of getting one completed as a gift for a dear friend we will see at the end of May, and the other is for our daughter.

Finished Mediterranean Mermaid

Woohoo! Second finish of the year, and it is only the beginning of April. Mediterranean Mermaid by Nora Corbett was a fast stitch. She is very Shinny with all the Kreinik thread and Mill Hill Beads and Treasures. The major conversion on her was her skin and hair.

We have two children that are adopted with darker skin. All of the beautiful pieces by Nora Corbett are fair skinned. I want our adopted children to be able to look at the pieces I have done and see that their skin is beautiful as well. Our daughter really loves this one. I might have to hang it in her room after it is framed. You can find the conversion for her on the Conversion Tab at the top of the page.

Other news: I ordered needle minders for the first time from Gina's Unique Boutique on Etsy. Even though I free stitch, with out a hoop or q-snaps, I am loving these. Instead of holding my needle in my mouth, sticking it in my pants/shorts, or stabbing it into the bead I attach this to my pattern holder and when I need to change thread color it keeps my needle safe. No more coming back going where did I put that needle now?

Mermaid Undine is back from the frame shop. :)

Already found her a home on the wall.

Fabric I need to start Christmas gifts still hasn't come in. So, next project will be a Coral Charms by Nora Corbett. I am going to do the same skin conversion on this one. I think the darker skin will be radiant against the bright colors of her tail.