QS MERMAIDS TREASURE

Confession time. I have to admit, I found The Chess Match daunting. Maybe it's my 28ct fabbie. I swear my eyes were straining to death. Anyway, I have decided to put it down for awhile. (Take note... for awhile...not permanently). And instead, I am going to tackle Sara Butcher QS Mermaid Treasure.

So far, I've had 3 nights to stitch on it... and it's going good. Relaxing even. So long as I remember not to stress about the back.

A group of local stitchers here in the Philippines decided to do a MARIMAR SAL. Basically, you get to pick ANY mermaid pattern and stitch it. I picked the QS Mermaid Treasure. The rest are mostly doing the mirabilia mermaids. I wasn't going to join until my Panda encouraged me and said joining a local group might help me improve. And so I did.

My QS Mermaid Treasure is being stitched on a 14ct white aida, 2 over 1, full cross. And I've decided to use my Qsnaps since my Fairy Idyll will remain on my floor stand. I intend to visit her every weekend. So basically... I'm doing rotation between the two.

Trying to use this technique... I tie a knot on my threads... enter my cloth from afar.. and start stitching... effectively stitching over the travelling thread underneath and so I can snip off the knot after a bit. Does that make sense?

I would usually start with a loop which I tug under then with my end threads, I would turn the scroll/qsnap over and insert through the rest of the backing. But this time, I decided to try the other way. Is there a term for what I'm doing?

I'm also stitching by color. After I've gridded the cloth, I decided to stitch by page, by color. So now I'm stuck on lavender. I just realized this pattern has a LOT of purple shades. Thank heavens I like the color!! And I'm using different highlighters to mark my pattern per day. So I can see how much I've stitched by the day.

Am I anal enough to count the number of stitches I make in a day? No... I don't think I am. I'm just happy to see the days color spread... meaning, I stitched a lot.

Well, good luck to me! Hope I can stick this one out. I was really going to put down Chessmatch and was eyeing my Flying Swans storykeep....but then this SAL came along. So... Mermaid's Treasure it is.

HAED QS Mermaid Treasure by SARA BUTCHER

As of Feb 23, 2012

Joining the cross stitch facebook groups has helped me a LOT in improving as a stitcher. Heck. Prior to facebook and the HAED site, I only knew ONE way of stitching. That's 2 over 1, full crosses. Whatever my elementary teacher taught me and whatever DMC Phil taught as well. Now, my scope is wider. And I'm less scared to tackle big projects.

All I have to remember is ONE STITCH AT A TIME and... F*CK the back, just ENJOY.

And I am.

TRANSORM!!!

Here's my set up. I just recently got a nice magnifying glass that clamps on my frame as well as a magnifier bar. Still, as much as I liked using the clamp, I need to shake things up a bit. I wanted to share with you a detailed description of how I did it...just so I can possible help those who feel challenged about doing stuff like this. :) 

The stitching world is not that big... every little tip helps.

Here are my materials:

A white board (that magnets are attracted to. There must be tin/metal core in it).

Lots of little round magnets from the local 2 cent store (here, we call them DAISO or JAPAN HOME STORES).

Double Sided Tape. (I prefer 3D...they're more sturdy).

Super Glue.  Might Bond or Epoxy would work as well.

THE START OF TRANSFORMATION.

Took off all the patterns and clips.

The Sponge pin cushion is screwed into the board. Time to unscrew the sucker. 

The back of the whiteboard had magnets at the corners. They're weak, so off they go. 

Turns out the magnets came with this little round tin things. Hmm... I'll make use of them.

Decided to double-sided tape the round things onto the board. This way, if I don't like to use the whiteboard anymore, I can just pull it off. 

Stuck magnets to the back that will 'stick' to the tin round things stuck on my wooden board.

TA-DA!! Instantly extends my board. :)

This is what it looks like on the back.

I had a pincushion with a wooden base that I double-sided taped to the edge of the board. I moved it 3/4 off the board to create more space. See...it extends to the side. 

Close up of my pincushion that I used to extend my board.

Side view of my magnifier bar. 

See? It works. Makes tiny letters bigger.  Now how to stick it on my board without it falling off?

Magnets!!! I stuck tiny magnets underneath...all around the edges. 

Special thanks to Michelle Almendras who gave me the inspiration to do this. :) I modified things but the original tip about magnets came from you. :) THANKS!!!

Hope this helps some of you! :D

My Stitchy Haul

Two binders full of original Mirabilia, HAEDs and other patterns bought from EBAY USA. Bid and won them last year and they finally arrived via my uncle!!! Woohoo!! I struck GOLD!! There are at least 4 original lavender&lace patterns and some HAEDs in here! I wonder why they sold it? It was for a charity thing.

Magnifiers. One clamp type for watching my stitching and one "bar" type to enlarge my patterns. I plan on putting magnets under it to 'stick' to the board on my floor stand (which I'll stick magnets to too).

9 pre-cut aida cloths, 4 aida ribbon bands, 2 spools nylon thread, 1 modern look stork scissor, 1 washable pencil for dark fabbies, 1 magnetic needle case, 1 sliding ruler, and 2 pattern kits (the Lord's prayer and The Lord is my shepherd).

1 fabric scissors, 1 pin cushion with wooden base (that I intend to stick to my floor stand board).

Trimming for my future xmas ornaments. It already has a sparkly bead attached to it!!

Christmas text cloths for the backing of my future ornaments. :)

I spent the past 4 days in singapore hunting down and going on a treasure hunt. And these were my finds. :)

I just thank God I have an understanding boyfriend who patiently brings me to the hole-in-the-wall places and waits as I go berserk amongst the shelves, diving into baskets and digging into bolts of cloth.

(** Thank you lovey for my magnifier bar **).

Ok, I think this is enough stitchy-shopping and collecting for now... I must buckle down and do some stitching.  :)

Lotsa kinky stitchers out there

Sigh... I have NOT been able to stitch. Almost a month now. Too many things going on. Work, holidays, travelling. I've yet to pick up a  needle and stitch.

BUT! I have spent my spare time organizing my stitchy goodies. I've been organizing my pdfs in my lappie and backed them up in my hard drives. Still winding floss unto my bobbins. My Panda and I call it BOBBINIZING. So for the past few nights, I bobbinize while he tinkers with his own project at his place. Of course, we're on Skype while we do our individual stuff so it's always nice to be able to look up at the screen, see him staring intently slightly off camera and be able to make a comment or two and get a reply back.

10 days more and I see my Panda again in person.

Anyway, I just HAD to make another post... y'see, I have this insane humor that maybe I'm the only one who can relate to it (as there are no other stitchers within reach). But I thought some you would appreciate my ongoing hunt for stitchy-related humor.

New thing that made me giggle. Someone posted on a facebook group that her goodies arrived. And she posted "THEY CAME!"

Ok, ok... that shouldn't be funny. But I found it to be.

If you're the one who posted that...please. No offense meant. :) I just have this ongoing mirth over how stitcher can be so.... green.

Basic rundown of my favorite stitching funnies:
1 over 1
2 over 1 (I mean, really?)
frogging (hmm... )

This is me. Sitting on my bed and BOBBINIZING. This is how I sit when I stitch or use my lappie. I've not used a chair yet since I started stitching.
Please take note of my scissors... they're PANDA themed! Black and White with a paw-print design. Couldn't resist getting them from maped.