Focusing on Petal Fairy

OK, I got a lot of encouragement in my comments section and via email to plug away now on Petal Fairy to get her done. So, I decided I will. I have my weekly SAL commitment tomorrow night, but I can work on her again on Saturday.... then again on Monday.... then I have a four day weekend coming up for my birthday.... she should get done by then :-)
Michael Powell charts/kits are really hard to come by here in the US, so you can imagine my glee when I was looking in my new July 2005 issue of Cross Stitcher (UK magazine) and saw that they will have a Venetian scene by Michael Powell in their August issue!!! This is already available in the UK, but I can't get it around here yet (heck, the July issue only just came in to the book stores here)... but you can be sure I will be watching for this!! I got this Cross Stitcher (July 2005) and this Quick & Easy (July #128) today.... And the mailman delivered my Garden Muses chart and my fat quarter of Summer Romance Jubilee by Sugar Maple Fabrics.... so it was a good stash day today, indeed.

Barbara asked some questions about Martina Weber, who designs under the name Chatelaine. Barbara asked what a "mystery" is. The Medieval Town Mandala is not one of her mysteries, it is an online class. She will be giving us passwords to part of that Medieval Town Mandala chart each month for 12 months. Along with providing the password to the chart piece, she runs a Yahoo group that enables the stitchers to chat together, Martina answers every single one of your questions personally (what other designers do that??) and offers you great support. Her designs are far from basic cross stitch - she adds in tons of fun specialty stitches and helps you through anything. She does the same with her mysteries, except you do not know ahead of time what the final design will look like (although you can get a small hint ahead of time to help you decide if you want to sign up - for instance, I knew that Mystery VI was going to be an autumn themed garden - the one starting in January 2006 is a French themed garden, and I hope to join that one too!). Each month is a treat to see what that part of the chart will look like. I did her Mystery VI last year, and it can be seen in My 2004 Finishes near the top of my sidebar. These are great fun, but very pricey. Martina does not scrimp on fibers - she loves to use NPI silks, Waterlilies, Gloriana Silks, Thread Gatherer Silks, Victoria Clayton Silks, Petite Treasure Braids, delicas beads.... so when I do one of these I really have to save up :-) This one is running Mike about $260.00 USD for me to do - $32.80 to Martina to receive the chart passwords, and about $220.00 or so for the full kit. To see her full line, check out the European Cross Stitch link under cross stitch shops in my sidebar... Kathy Filosi and her colleague Cindy kit up these classes for you - if you are in Europe or Australia, you may want to get your kit from Karen Kirk at Dragonfly Dreams (also in my sidebar). Gee, maybe this info will encourage some other stitchers to sign up :-) And, if you are new to Chatelaine and want to try her stuff out, there is a link in my freebies section to her latest little garden piece, Springtime Roses. Enjoy! I hope to stitch it soon too :-)

Ready for more daylilies?? I had tons again today, so I again selected just the ones I can name... someday when it is rainy or the end of the season I will post my lost tags and unregistered seedlings :-) I took a few of these this morning after the sprinkler system had been on....most were this afternoon in the sun.
Daylily: RespighiDaylily: Dorothe LouiseDaylily: Twin DragonsDaylily: Jedi Cream PuffDaylily: Spanish MasqueradeDaylily: Christmas IsDaylily: Pimiento PepperDaylily: Breathless BeautyDaylily: Cape CodDaylily: Frankie's Fantasy (all blooms have been odd like this this year....)Daylily: Indian GiverDaylily: Ruffled ApricotDaylily: Clymer's PrideDaylily: Caprician FiestaDaylily: MallardDaylily: Lynn HallDaylily: All American TigerDaylily: Flaming PoppaDaylily: Decatur Cherry SmashDaylily: Flower BasketDaylily: Nacogdoches Bing CherryDaylily: Cherry Eyed PumpkinDaylily: War CloudsDaylily: Eenie AllegroDaylily: Double RedDaylily: Lavender IllusionDaylily: Lulu's Knobby

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern.
A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock.
A unique woman like you needs a city that offers everything.
No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong in? Take This Quiz :-)

Red Sox 6, White Sox 5 :-)

Stitched on today: Story Time (about 30-40 little x's in 822, but finally got some in at work!) and Petal Fairy

Off to go look at Stitching Bits & Bobs' storewide sale... I noticed sale prices went up yesterday, but tonight they finally announced the dates of the sale... mmmmm, let's go look :-)