20. Nora Corbett Scorpio

 This is the fourth in the Zodiac Girls series I have stitched and the first Water sign.

Nora Corbett Scorpio

Stitched on 32 count Scorpio Murano from Sparklies

Framed by my usual framer:

You can find:

Capricorn here
Taurus here

and Virgo here

20. Nora Corbett Capricorn

This is the third in the Zodiac Girls series I have stitched and the final Earth sign:

Nora Corbett Capricorn

Stitched on 32 count Capricorn Murano from Sparklies

Capricorn is very heavily beaded

Professionally framed by my usual framer:

You can find Taurus here

and Virgo here

16. Circle Cross Lunar Calendar Taurus

 8th August 2024

Circle Cross Lunar Calendar Hare Moon for Taurus

Stitched on 28 count opalescent Robin's Egg evenweave from Silkweaver

This was a gift for my lovely framer, who is a Taurus.

She chose this frame for herself.

09. Nora Corbett Taurus

This is the second of the Zodiac Girls designs from Nora Corbett that I have stitched.  She is Taurus, of course:

Here's the full design:

Stitched on 32 count Murano called....Taurus!

When I saw that Sparklies did a range of fabrics named after the Zodiac signs I knew they would be perfect for this series.

There were some Waterlilies charted for this design, but I substituted DMC for the ones in the centre of her dress.  3 different colours in the 501-503 range instead of one variegated.

Nora made a little error on the chart and put the sigil for Aries, but it was simple to change it to Taurus

The other Waterlilies was the teal to each side of her.  I used a Classic Colourworks thread called Bejewelled instead.

The swirls around the pale green beads were charted for Waterlilies and I used DMC 503 for them all.

Virgo is here

11. Nora Corbett Virgo

 This is my purple conversion of Nora Corbett's Virgo.

I started with the fabric from Sparklies with the perfect name - Virgo.
I chose a 32 count Murano which is my favourite for Nora's designs.

I started with the dress which is charted for 414 and 415, shades of grey rather than the blue it looks on the cover photo.  I changed those to the lavenders in the new colours - 25 to 30

Her skin is as charted.

Her hair was the biggest change, I went for the 550 family of purples.

The Caron colours have been changed to two Stef Francis threads, one silk and one cotton.
I used the silk for the butterflies and backstitched in silver metallic.

I also used the silver metallic for the antenna, which I backstitched,
then whipstitched to hide the places where it entered the fabric.

The wings are now a purple blending filament with a touch of green satin in the "eyes".
I used a DMC Satin thread for the satin stitch!  Then surrounded them with purple beads.

The larger beads have stayed as charted but all the others have changed.  For the necklaces I stitched over the gaps left in the design for beads and simply strung them on thread and tacked down at intervals so they hung more naturally.

The lowest strand of beads was charted with squares of stitching with a bead in the middle.
I used sequins held in place with a bead.

Once I had finished her and taken loads of photos I decided that I needed the pearl earring to be more dangly!

Here's how she compares with the original:

Professionally framed:

01. Just Nan Snowfire Christmas

 

Just Nan Snowfire Christmas

Stitched on 32 count Burgundy Linen

As you would expect from a Just Nan, there are a lot of speciality stitches and just as many beads!

My goal was 2-3 bands per week and that was ambitous!

There's DMC and cotton Perle in this

The last two bands are the two that defeated my goal of a 2020 finish

More beads and crystals too

I got this one professionally framed.

23. Lyndisfarne Designs Discworld Mapp

 

Lyndisfarne Designs Discworld Mapp

Stitched on 32 count Murano custom dyed by Sparklies