It's been a long time baby ....

Well it has! Over a month since I last added anything to my blog .. not good.

It's been an odd sort of month stitchy-wise. I've either got loads or nothing done. I had a whole week where my stitchy bug just upped and left :-( by the end of that week the stress levels were sky high and I just had to get something done, even if it was just 10 stitches. I managed to stitch some of Sunny, making a start on that flower at last, and when I have been stitching I've been working pretty solidly on Vanity.

I got my first Q-Snaps this month too! I got an 8x8 set and wanted to try them out so I popped Aurora on them. She fits pretty good and I like the tension of them. Can't imagine using them on a bigger project though .. although I wonder if I can just rest them on my Needleneeds as I would any other frame? I guess so. I have to admit that is has been nice not being stuck behind a floorstand and being part of the family again .. I think that novelty will wear off soon enough!

I've also put Aurora into the SWIP SAL on the HAED BB this week so I'll work on her until Thursday and then rotate back to Vanity, although I might have a little go at Alice, not sure yet!

I have applied to join HAED Friends blog but that is full so luckily I have been accepted for the My First HAED blog. So, I will try and post on there, as well as here!

As I've been working on different things this month, here are all the update photos. I'll put up a photo of Aurora once the SAL is finished.

Sunny after the September 2010 SAL

Vanity as at 2 September 2010

Vanity!

I've made a start! Vanity was started on 1 August and so far I have put 2300 stitches into her. Not even 1% yet! Most of those stitches were the same purple. About 50 were another, lighter, shade of purple but not that different that you can see the two. I've got two pictures, one close up showing what I have done so far. The other is for scale, so you can see the whole piece of fabby with my small amount of stitches at the top lol!

2300 stitches done!

Not that much to see!

I have loved stitching this, and am pleased that my bars have now arrived for my Needleneeds frame. I can't wait to stitch on her again but it's back to Sunny again now for the SAL week on the HAED Bulletin Board. I have to say that after all that purple I am quite looking forward to the confetti stitches of the flower on Sunny's hat!

Busy doing nothing ...

Well I've had a week of just that! I managed just four hours actual stitching time on Alice this week, and then spent the rest of the week prepping up Vanity - sorting threads and gridding fabric. I think it took me the best part of four days but it is a large design. I've ordered threads but some are out of stock so I haven't quite got them all. I also ordered some new bars for my NeedleNeeds frame as I don't have any wide enough. They were out of stock too but should be with me at the beginning of next week.

So now I am putting Alice away for a while. I am going to make a small start on Vanity this week. T and I are doing this as a mini-stitchalong and we've even got our own forum on Craftbubble! Then the week after that will be the second HAED SK stitchalong, so back to Sunny for a week.

As it's all change, time for some more photos. The first one is Alice and the second one is Vanity, prepped and ready to go!

Alice at 31 July 2010

Vanity ready to start

Decisions, decisions

Tough decisions to make today .. the wonderful HAED site is having a sale and with 30% off it really is worth stocking up and adding to the stash! So far I have four charts in my basket two big designs and two small. Trouble is I just can't decide which to get!

Let's face it it's not like I really need to get yet more charts, after all I've got several on the go already and sooooo many waiting but I have to say that Vanity by Marta Dahlig is calling to me quite loudly. It would look so good on lilac 28ct evenweave, the purples in it are gorgeous! One of the Faces of Faery is also looking likely - really pretty electric blues and the eyes are so cute!

So after much deliberation, I got Vanity (Dahlig) Faces of Faery 14 (JBG) Afternoon Tea (Spangler) and Heart on her Sleeve (HL)! Vanity has now jumped to the top of my to do pile - over Pink Lightning which I was sure I wanted to do next. I've ordered my fabby, threads, a different coloured gridding thread and some bigger bars for my frame. I now have to wait until it all arrives to make a start. I will definitely have to grid my fabby and I think, given the size of Vanity, that will take a while.

It does mean that it looks like one of my current wips is going to have to take a backseat for some time. As Aurora seems to be out of favour at the moment, I think it will have to be her. So, one of my half year goals is out already :-(

I think I will slip Vanity in as my main piece, taking the majority of the month and then do a week on Alice and carry on with the stitchalong for this year. I will probably not be able to take part in next year's stitchalong (if they do one) that is unless there is a storykeep there that I absolutely have to do!