May IHSW & TUSAL and other updates

I'm such a slacker!  It has been over 2 weeks since my last post!   I've been busy with work and having to travel, as well as family stuff going on.   I have so much to update on, but I'll really try to keep it short and simple  :)

Here is my May Hermitting update:

I worked on two new pieces over the weekend, one was Moonlight Immersion.  This is my first attempt with 28 count, using tent stitches.  I've been wanting to try all the different ways people work their HAEDs, so here's on of them!

Here is the before the weekend pic:

And my after shot:

I also started working on QS Blue Butterly by HAED this weekend.  A good friend of mine chose this chart as her first HAED and I thought it would be fun to stitch together, to keep her motivated and help her through getting adjusted to HAEDs

My progress from the weekend:

I also did some gridding for other new starts, but I didn't take any pictures of those...kinda boring! :)

In other news.......

My QS Motherhood by HAED came back from the framers....I LOVE LOVE LOVE how it turned out!

The piece itself has some light hues of purple floss used in it...so the purple matting really brings that out.

The outer matting is a linen fabric, which I thought looked great with the stitching.  Here's a close up, you can sort of see it:

I sat down and updated my rotation/task list (located on my right sidebar).  The list is long, and I'll probably change it as I go...but my mind needed to lay out all my current goals.  I'll be working on two pieces just a few hours per week (SK Blue Moon and QS Blue Butterfly) as those are stitch alongs and then I'll be working my other pieces a page at a time. 

Eventually I'll need to add in the SAL from Papillon....Around the World in 80 Stitches, but I'm still waiting on my fabric to get here <sigh>.
I've also listed a "secret stitch" in there....this is something I am stitching as a gift and the recipient sometimes checks my blog...so just to be safe I won't post pictures until it is finished and given.

I was also asked to do a review of one of Yiota's Cross Stitch charts....and it just arrived...so I'll be woking on that this week!

Finally....I just wanted to share how proud I am of my son Sebastian.  Over the past few weeks he tested for his Blue Belt in Karate (Tang Soo Do).  This was a big deal for him, because this is the belt where he had to test and pass on EVERYTHING he's ever learned since he started.  It is also the belt just before Junior Blackbelt. 

HE PASSED! :)  He worked so hard to remember everything and do everything correctly, over the past 3 months....for a 10 year old, that can be asking a lot!  I'm a proud momma!



(edited to add my TUSAL)
After typing this up and posting it, I realized it was also TUSAL time!  <another sigh>  I'm so behind!

I took a quick snapshot of my monthly TUSAL jar and the big vase I'm using to gather everything for the year.  Pardon the Tony Hawk skate toys...my son took over my dining room table!





Whew! Sorry for the long post!   Have a great week!


-lesli