School of Magical Stitches and Literature Year 3 Extra Credit

I mentioned a bit about Extra Credit in another post about how one of my projects was a little further along than the last time it had been posted on my blog. As you may or may not be familiar with extra credit, it's basically extra homework to improve your grade in school. For the School of Magical Stitches and Literature this means both extra stitching tasks and extra reading tasks. Since this is a stitching blog, I won't talk about the reading aspect unless anyone specifically asks, but I will talk about the stitching part!

Again, I don't know why this group has rejuvenated my stitching, but it definitely has. It could be my deep-set love of homework. And yes, I believe I live up to my Ravenclaw designation there.

There are 11 extra credit stitching tasks. They all take aspects of the books, and I'll try and give a bit of background in case anyone hasn't read them.

TASKS - to be completed in March and April

1) 500 stitches in DMC 310 for Sirius Black - a new character introduced in this book

I chose Princess and the Dragon and the starting point was here:

and after 500 stitches:

Princess and the Dragon by Charting Creations 

Stitched on 28ct Amarinthine by Chromatic Alchemy 1 over 1 with DMC 310

It's so nice to get this one out again and work on it. I'll be away at a conference over the weekend and will likely bring this, although I'd also like to get some socks finished, so we'll see what I pack. It is nice to fill it in as I listen to lectures though. 

2) 500 stitches for turning back time - there's a sort of time travel bit in the book and we were supposed to stitch on something either designed in the 1990s or prior, i.e. reproduction sampler, etc. 

I chose Basset Hound, which was here:

and got to here: 

Basset Hound by Brenda Franklin (copyright 1997)

Stitched 2 over 2 as charted on 14ct navy Aida

This one is farther along thanks to other homework that came later, and I think it will be a finish this year too! 

3) 500 stitches on a project that has betrayed you - Betrayal is a significant plot point in this story, and the idea is to stitch on something that took longer than expected, or something you love, but is a real pain to work on, etc. 

I haven't chosen anything for this yet. I'm debating about Ballerina Dreams since I had hoped to stitch that in six months last year, but that didn't happen at all. 

Otto might be another option as that is going to take forever. Or I could dig out my first HAED, Siberian Tiger since that was my first experience at this rigors of confetti. 

This hasn't been touched since 2012. It is pretty cool, although I have another full coverage piece of Tiger Eyes from Charting Creations I might like more. But it would kind of be a rite of passage to complete a HAED, so maybe I could put any of my HAED WIPs in this category. That would be Adobe White, Dragon Under Glass, Mini Winter Magic, and Mini Autumn's Promise. 

4) SPOILER ALERT! (Sirius Black is framed) - so we need to work on frames. I found my Satsuma Street Happy Halloween that had a miniscule start previously from Stitch Maynia 2018:

and after 500 stitches is here:

Happy Halloween by Satsuma Street

Stitched 2 over 1 on 16?ct fiddler cloth with charted colours so far

You're only allowed to stitch on frames for this task, but I added the L with one length of black and didn't count the stitches, I just wanted to make sure I was oriented with which way was up! It took me a while when I got it out to work out what square I had stitched. :) 

5) 500 stitches on something that reminds you of Crystal Balls - be creative were the recommendations, so we had some leeway. I don't know about you, but a snow globe really reminds me of a crystal ball, so my poor neglected Joy Snow Globe got some love. It started here as of last year:

and after 500 stitches:

Joy Snow Globe Dimensions kit as charted on plastic canvas

6) 500 stitches on something that makes you so happy you can produce a Patronus charm - this is a tricky bit of magic to make the Dementors, who suck all the happiness out of you, get blown away. 

I thought this was easy and selected Tribal Dragon again, however, now that I've worked on it so much, I think I might not have 500 stitches left! However, only way to know is to try, so here's where it is now. 

Tribal Dragon by White Willow Stitching

stitched 1 over 1 on 25 ct pewter Lugana with Waterlilies/Kreinik and Soie Cristal

The nice thing with these challenges is you can use multiple projects, so if I only have 400 stitches left, I can put the other 100 to something else and take photos of everything so the graders know what's going on. 

7) 500 stitches on something in a different part of the world - one family went to Egypt, a foreign country, so you're supposed to find something from a different part of the world than where you live. I was thinking of the Under-the-Sea SAL by Lakeside Needlecraft that I abandoned a couple years ago, but it has to be somewhere real, and for some reason, the admins don't think mermaids really exist. :)

Instead I'm going to get out my Heritage Stitchcraft Twilight Le Mans since the race only takes place in Le Mans, France and I don't live there.

It's still here from one of the Crazy January February Challenges 2016:

A few hundred stitches should help a picture start to emerge!

8) 500 stitches for the Marauder's Map (a new plot piece/handy device) - we need to stitch on something map or street related. I'm considering my Vermont project that I also started back in 2016.

Vermont by Mary Margaret Waldock

stitched 2 over 1 on 14 ct Nimbus (I think) by Chromatic Alchemy

I had started this as a gift for a co-worker, but the chart was kind of a pain. It was the first handwritten chart I'd tried to work from and I just wasn't loving this one. I think I would like to get back at it and stitch it for DD since she's starting to figure out where we live and how that fits into the rest of the world. 

9) 500 stitches on a redo of a challenge you weren't able to complete - there's a part of the book where the characters "redo" something they've lived through already, but in a different way, it kind of goes with the Time Travel part. 

This is only for people who have failed one of the challenges. As yet, that hasn't happened for me, so I can redo one of the other challenges. I haven't chosen anything for this yet since it's wide open, I may wait to see what needs a little extra to get to a finish. 

10) 200 stitches in something that sucks the life out of you (Dementor) - Dementors are an evil creature that guard a terrible wizard prison and the punishment for certain crimes is the Dementor's Kiss when they suck out your soul. You're not dead, but worse.

This is an easy one. For whatever reason, the 12 Dragons of Xmas do this for me. I think it's the fabric. I'm really not an afghan fan. I'd like to finish them because now I've started, I'd like to finish the series and display this, but it's not fun.

I'm midway through Day 4, so 200 stitches may finish that one. Depending I may choose this for number 9 too if it's out, see if I can get Day 5 finished as well.

11) Watch the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie - show before and after progress.

Princess and the Dragon came out again for this, getting to this point:

Princess and the Dragon by Charting Creations

Stitched 1 over 1 on 28ct Amarinthine Jobelan by Chromatic Alchemy

And that's it! Good luck if you made it this far and wish me luck getting six more of these finished by the end of the month. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch