Towards the Magic

Towards the Magic by Anna Petunova — a vertical Harry-Potter-themed still life, 124w × 181h stitches. The composition is a vintage luggage trolley parked beside the Platform 9¾ sign on the King’s Cross brick wall, loaded for the Hogwarts Express:

• A weathered leather trunk / suitcase at the bottom of the stack.
• A pile of spellbooks with red and brown leather covers above it, a long wand tucked between them.
• A small wire owl cage balanced on the books with a tiny owl visible through the bars.
• An Edison-bulb lantern glowing at the top of the cart, lighting the whole scene.
• The brick wall behind shows the Platform 9¾ enamel sign with vines creeping over the bricks.
• A wheel of the trolley anchors the lower right of the design.

Stitched on 28ct Live and Dye LA Smack the Jellyfish hand-dyed Lugana — a variegated linen washed in purples, teals, pinks, and golds with sparkle threads woven in, named after a smack of jellyfish (the collective noun). The chart’s recommended fabric is a calmer hand-dye, but the Smack the Jellyfish colourway turns the unstitched ground into the magical mist swirling around the platform.

Started January 8, 2025. Finished April 30, 2025 — about three and a half months of stitching.