Quick Stitchy Update

Have a few things to blog about but have only got time to quickly upload some HAED WIP updates at the moment. Normal (and hopefully regular!) blogging to resume shortly!!

I've recently gotten back into my HAED stitching, I'd forgotten how soothing I find it and it has helped me get through these last few weeks.

First up is a new start, QS Dark Cherry by Ching-Chou Kuik. This is my yearly challenge SAL piece on the HAED BB with monthly SALs on the second weekend of each month. This is what I managed for the January SAL and given that I had family here didn't think this was too bad an effort :) Stitched on antique white 25 count lugana with DMC and PB10 for the sparkles. Started on 10 January 2009.



Next up is my current progress on QS Plum Gothic by Caron Vinson. I was hoping to finish this last year but with one thing and another that didn't happen. This year!



Lastly, my current progress on The Encounter by Ed Beard Jr. This is a full size HAED (36 pages, which is not as big as some). DS chose this chart and wants me to stitch it up for his birthday. He didn't specify which birthday but I'm estimating I may have it done in time for his 21st - lol! Stitched on 25 count white lugana with DMC and PB10 for the sparkles. Can't remember when I started this - early last year I think.

June Edition of HAED BB Challenge SAL

Before:



After:



I managed to finish the first page this time!

What it will look like when I'm eventually done!

Dream of Purple

New Starts

A couple of weeks ago the HAED BB had a New Start SAL. I couldn't resist and started Ching Chou Kuik's Sweet Pink Mermaid. I've actually done more than this since this photo was taken. It's a nice stitch. One strand of DMC over one thread antique white 25 count lugana.



This is a Mother's Day freebie mystery exclusive to members of the Wiehenburg Samplers Yahoo Group which I started today. I'm using one strand of HDF's Premium silk "Dusty Rose" (discontinued I believe) over two threads of CountryStitch's 32 count lugana in "Hydrangea".

Dream of Purple

Despite the painting (which is still ongoing), I managed to make some pleasing progress during the HAED BB SAL last weekend.



A couple of SAL weekends ago I decided to start using a different coloured highlighter to mark off my chart each SAL as a gauge for my progress as well. For April I chose pink :)



I will bore you with my painting progress tomorrow :)

WIP Updates - Pic heavy!

I grabbed the camera this afternoon and took some pics of my current stitching WIPs.

First up, Violet Eyes by Rachel Marks & HAED. I pulled this out earlier this week and stitched a little more on the eye area. According to my photo records I haven't worked on this since November last year. There's lot of white and sparkles in this one!



Close up of the eye area I've been working on.



Next, some more progress on Plum Gothic QS.



This is my current progress on the Wiehenburg Quaker Mystery 2008 SAL. I haven't stitched a lot on this WIP in recent times due to the holidays. I usually work on this during DD's tennis and tap dance lessons. Activities start back next week so it will start to see some action again :) Oh, and I finally managed to get a more accurate pic of the fabric colour this time!



Next up, my start on LHN's Princess and the Pea - sorry about the creases, I didn't feel like climbing upstairs where the ironing board and iron are located to iron them out :)



Last but not least, my before pic of Dream of Purple for the HAED BB Challenge SAL weekend starting tomorrow and running through Monday. I'm hoping to get a fair amount done but that will depend on the painting!



Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!

Busy Weekend!

Boy, what a crazy busy weekend!

Friday night DH and I attended a corporate function at one of the nearby golf clubs. It was put on by our hometown State Government (they have an office here) in honour of a visiting bigwig. Lots of produce specific to our hometown region was flown in including Balfours Frog Cakes and Vili's Meat Pies!!! Plus local seafood (prawns, yellow fin tuna, barramundi and King George Whiting), Wagyu beef, Berenberg strawberry jam, Medlow fruit gels and Bickford's beverages.

On Saturday Australian Rules Football came to Dubai - Collingwood vs Adelaide - and with DS being a huge Adelaide fan we had to go :) The game was held on a polo field which was converted into a football ground for the event! It was a fantastic day and much fun was had by all. Adelaide won so DS was very happy!






Unfortunately, DS was off school sick today so my plan to spend most of the day with Dream of Purple for the HAED BB February Challenge SAL didn't happen. Instead, the day was spent catching up on the laundry I didn't do because we were out all weekend and taking DS to the doctor. He's fine and should be back at school tomorrow.

I did manage to put in the last few stitches left on my February Christmas ornament though! I'll post pics tomorrow :)

HAED BB 2008 Challenge SAL - January Edition

Before After

Dream of Purple
Original Artwork: Ching Chou Kuik
Charted by: Michele Sayetta of Heaven & Earth Designs (c) 2007

Stitched 1 x 1 full cross on 25 ct pale aqua lugana using DMC threads

I finally started stitching on her Sunday evening for a few hours and then managed to get a few more hours in on Monday. I filled in a lot of the empty spots so I was pleased with my progress.

We have had quite a lot of rain today and this city is just not built for it (or US President's visits for that matter!) so after having my plans shelved because of the inclement weather (DD's class was meant to go on a field trip today and I had volunteered to help out) I dropped the kids at school, came home and settled down to stitch for the day :) I'm continuing to work on Dream of Purple until tomorrow when I switch her out for QS Plum Gothic. Several schools are closing tomorrow (including the one mine go to) because of the heavy rain. It has caused quite a bit of flooding and electric problems.

As I said before, this city isn't built for rain :)

I leave you with some shots (not taken by me) of our main freeway yesterday closed for the Bush visit.

Pay It Forward 2008

I've gone and done it now - I've joined Karen's PIF challenge :)

So, if you would like something stitched by me sometime during this year (2008) then please be one of the first five (5) people to either leave a comment here or email me at buffster_fan at yahoo dot com dot au and I will be in touch. In turn you must post to your blog the same challenge and accept five people to send to. They do the same and forward it goes :)

If I do not have five people sign up then I will send five random parcels to different parts of the globe :)

I didn't get a lot of stitching done on The Encounter yesterday - prepping the fabric (I actually dragged out the sewing machine to edge the fabric), pulling the floss and gridding the outline of the first page took longer than I anticipated. We also went out last night for dinner so I didn't really sit down to stitch until quite late. I probably managed about 20-30 stitches before I headed for bed. I will work on this some more next week after the HAED Challenge SAL which is this weekend and I will post a progress pic then.

However, I will leave you with the latest progress on my Long Dog Sampler "St Georges" - not the best photo, sorry but you can see that it is almost done! I did quite a bit of this in the last week of our holidays.



I haven't managed to stitch yet today so I'm off to make myself a cuppa and then head to my stitching chair for an hour or two!

HAED BB Quick Stitch Wednesday SAL

<- Before


-> After



I didn't get as much time as I'd hoped on this last night so progress isn't very noticeable but at least I managed to put some stitches in before my eyes grew heavy and I had to go to bed! I really had hoped to finish Plum last year but it wasn't to be. She will most definitely be finished this year though and hopefully in the first quarter!

Just a quick post from me today - January's edition of the HAED BB 2008 Challenge SAL starts tomorrow (I think - must check) and I will be working on Dream of Purple this year instead of Verdure.

Before the SAL starts however I want to put some stitches into my New Year's start. Because I was away I obviously didn't get to start it on 1st January 2008 but today, rather conveniently, marks the start of the Islamic New Year so I get another chance :)

The chart/design? Well, I am in the Heaven & Earth Designs Birthday Club and whilst scrolling through my wishlist trying to decide on what chart to get, DS spotted this one. Am I insane?! Quite possibly :) DS said he wanted it for his birthday (which is in July). However, he didn't specify which birthday so I told him he may get it for his 21st, or if he's lucky, his 18th - lol! That gives me six to nine years to stitch it up :)

On that note, I'd better get to it! I shall report on my progress tomorrow.

I love my camera :)

The kids were out shooting some hoops with their friends before dinner last night when DD came running in yelling for me to come outside and bring my camera! I went outside and was greeted with this gorgeous sunset!

Got a bit carried away with the photos - sorry!

Stitching: I have been doing a little stitching although not huge amounts. I seem to have the reading bug lately and my stitching has suffered because of it. Anyway, it is the Christmas/Mermaids SAL on the HAED BB this weekend so I've pulled both Dream of Purple and Sea of Roses out with the intention of making some progress. I also had Plum Gothic QS out earlier this week and once this weekend is over I intend to get back to her and work on her until she is done. Well, that's this week's plan anyway :)

I'll post before and after pics of each after the SAL has finished. Right now I'm heading back to my chair for an hour's stitching before the kids come home from school!

I'm in a dilemma!

There have been some new Ching-Chou Kuik Quick Stitch releases over at Heaven & Earth Designs recently and I've fallen in love with almost all of them (!!) - Butterfly Dream, Crystal Magic, Green Dragonfly, Magical Spread and Serene Dawn. I think Green Dragonfly would go lovely with Purple Dragonfly so they are at the top of my list to start next BUT Butterfly Dream and Purple Silk Mermaid are also calling quite loudly! To make matters worse Guidance is also starting to make itself heard. Sigh. Plum Gothic is on my stand at the moment so I think I'll try to keep on with her for a bit and then perhaps I'll go back to Dream of Purple for a bit to see if that will quieten the Kuik callings :)

Wish me luck!!

I have been quiet!!

Received a reminder from Nicole* today that I hadn't blogged in a while - she wondered if I was still stuck behind the ironing board - lol! No, ironing is pretty much up to date (thanks to our maid who caught it up for me while watching the kids one night a couple of weeks back). I've been a bit restless and just haven't been in the blogging frame of mind. Anyway, thanks for the push, Nic, I seem to be getting into the groove of things again now :)

Okay, so what have I been up to since I last posted? Well, let's see I've continued to read a lot. I discovered The Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Canavan, the Heather Wells mysteries by Meg Cabot and the first of JA Konrath's Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels mysteries, Whiskey Sour, all of which I've enjoyed. I've also started Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer, from DS's bookshelf, which is also looking to be a good read :)

I have also been stitching. There was a New Start SAL on the HAED BB at the beginning of the month which is all the encouragement I needed really :) I chose Ching Chou Kuik's Dream of Purple.

My progress ...

I also participated in September's edition of the Yearly Challenge SAL with Verdure and managed to complete the first page plus a little of the second page :)



This past weekend was the Background SAL on the HAED BB and I chose to work on Molly Harrison's Fairy of the Sea. I had moved over to the top right of the chart and started on the background there a little while ago.

Before:

After:

I'm way behind on my PhotoHunt entries, so much so that I think I will stop participating in it for now. Maybe I'll just do my own random pic of the month type of thing or as and when I take a memorable or amusing pic.

Like this one ...



DS was home sick a couple of days this week with pharyngitis. On Monday, his first day off school, he'd come downstairs to talk to me but I was outside hanging out a load of washing. This is what I came back inside to :) Tikki decided she needed her rest too - lol. Oh, and DS is fine now :)

Right, time to take DD to her tennis lesson!

~o00o~

*If you haven't done so before go and check out Nicole's awesome progress on her St Nick in his Study WIP. The detail is just amazing!