Friday Night with Friends_March 2020

The night before last was Friday night which means it was time for Friday Night with Friends (FNwF)  virtual stitching night which is run by the wonderful Cheryll, here is where you can check out what everyone else got up to this month.

It is also my own personal Friday Frolics night, where I pick up a WIP or UFO every Friday.

This week I picked up Strawberry House by LHN. The last time I stitched on it was on September 8th, 2015, where I struggled to get much stitching done on it as I kept having to frog different sections and then somehow lost my Crescent Colours Ladybug floss!

So, this is how I found the piece.  

Unfortunately, I still can't find my Ladybug floss - so, yesterday, all of that had to be frogged and I started again with WDW Begonia - a bit pinker but it will still work very well, I think.

Hopefully, this will be the last I will see the Frog Prince for a while now.

Also, for FNwF I stitched on The Faerie Queene Sampler - I have been stitching on it each day in March as part of the March One Stitch per day Challenge for WIPocalypse.  I am stitching one letter of the verse in dark brown, one over one.  It is quite petite, so I try to stitch on it during daylight hours.

I am also stitching on this piece every day during daylight hours for the JCS Christmas Ornie FB SAL as I am finding the black rather challenging to stitch on.

... and to finish, here is a rare photo of Milo sitting on my lap (he is usually too skittish).

Oh, I have a giveaway happening so please visit this post if would like to join in all the fun.

Thanks for visiting and please don't forget to leave a comment as I do love a good chat,

hugs, 

Finally, a stitchy update....

Well, amidst all of my trials and tribulations I have actually managed to get some stitching done.  Would you like to see?

1. My first piece for the year-long Joan Elliott Round Robin has been completed and is on its way to the next stitcher.  I am very pleased with my Geisha for Julie.

2.  I finally finished the petit point section I have been working on for my Scarlet Letter SAL - there is more further on in the design but at least I can move onto a different section now.

3. Some, slow progress on my Cut Thru' Castle - for some reason I am really struggling with this piece. I love the design but the fabric is hard to count on.  At least you can finally see those two figures without having to squint now!

4.  I worked some more on Day 4 of Prairie Schooler's 12 Days of Santa, a SAL which I am doing with Debbie and Linda.  Showing some real progress here.

5. A new start: Strawberries by LHN - this has been a train stitch and is coming along very quickly.

6. Lastly, another new start: Trouble Waters (#1 of Bad Neighbourhoods) by Ink Circles.

I have had to order the WDW threads so I am doing it in different colourways using some gorgeous Australian hand-dyed silk threads made by Gumnut Threads.

This is the pic on the front of the pattern.

So, thank goodness for my family, my bloggy friends (thank you everyone for sending me even more kind thoughts and prayers and my stitching - all of this brings me great joy and I need to focus on these positives at this stressful time.

hugs, 

Weekend stitching....

This weekend I worked mainly on:

1. Day 4 of 12 Days of Santa (my SAL with Linda and Debbie):

You can just see one boot and the outline of his body taking shape.

2. The Faerie Queene - I am still working on the petit point section, so it is slow going but the first pic is  where I started on Saturday afternoon and the other two show where I finished on Sunday.

 Still a few letters in the dark brown to go.....  but there is definite progress happening!

Have a good Monday,

hugs,

So much to tell you all....

Well, I have had such a busy week being MIA in Perth and then catching up with my stitching on the long weekend here in Melbourne (Queen's Birthday long weekend).  So, I will probably spread some of my news over a couple of posts, if that is okay.

But first, the most exciting news about my Perth trip!  I met up with a fellow stitching blogger, Noni of Fireflies and Cats in the Garden.  I emailed her a couple of weeks ago when I knew that I was going to be going to Perth to see if she would be able to catch up with me.  Luckily, she was having some time off and was free to meet me for lunch in the window of opportunity I had before my colleagues arrived from Adelaide and we had to go conduct our Workshops.  Here we are at the cafe.

We chatted and laughed and learnt that we have lots and lots in common - we are stitching sisters from the two coasts of Australia - lovely!

Of course, being Cross Stitch bloggers we exchanged gifts:

Coincidentally, we both used orange in our wrapping!

Look what Noni gave me:

Beautiful stitched cards and notebook, a scissor fob and a dreamcatcher fob.

.... and this is what I gave Noni:

A framed bunny, some Collection Tra La La patterns and a pair of scissors and a homemade pompom fob.

Thank you, Noni, I will always treasure the time we spent together and the lovely gifts you made for me - I can't wait until we catch up again.

Here is my TUSAL report for this month (a bit late, I am sorry).

Home ORTS on the left and car/plane ORTS on the right

The tea set at the back is my DM's Royal Winton tea set, isn't it gorgeous?

I also got some stitching done this weekend:

Progress on The Faerie Queene (this is all one over one stitching on 35 ct so I need VERY good light to be able to do it)

... and a Happy Dance - Day 3 of Santa's 12 Days of Christmas - yay!

Have a great week everyone,  I am MIA in Sydney this week (read this post here if you want to know more) so forgive me if I don't post anything new all week or don't visit you much.

hugs,

P.S. I was fiddling with my blog layout and now it is a bit mucked up.  Forgive me as it will be a while before I can get it right again - so sorry.

A Happy Easter....

Well, despite a few "Downs" this past Easter weekend:

• Dear BIL being taken to hospital with pneumonia on Thursday but luckily he responded quickly to strong antibiotics and was sent home on Good Friday
• The garage door (which opens from the lane to our backyard where we park our four cars (!) - now both DD and DS2 drive we have a carpark! lol!) broke down on Good Friday - no way to get it fixed for two weeks!
• Rushing DD to the 24 hour clinic to get a tetanus shot on Easter Sunday morning after she cut her foot badly at her work late on Saturday night on a rusty metal container

We managed to have some great "Ups" over the long weekend;

• Visited the Mornington Farmer's Market on Saturday (see last post)
• Caught up with 6 or 7 episodes of "Downton Abbey" - such a treat!
• My Dear Uncle came to stay for a few days, here is on the right (TraderVic on the left) enjoying a nice glass of red wine

• Caught up with friends and family
• Lots of baking

Chocolate Fudge Cake

Peanut Crinkles

DS1 made a delicious Key Lime Pie

• Plus I made some delicious Lentil Soup and Tuna patties on Good Friday and a hearty Lamb and Vegetable Soup on Easter Monday (no pics, sorry)

• Plus, of course, lots of stitching:
• Some progress on The Faerie Queene:

This section in brown (below) is done over one (not my favourite stitching to do):

• ..and lots of progress on Autumn in New York:

So, in all a Happy Easter,

I would love to hear all about yours, so please let me know.

hugs,