July Wipocalypse

Whoops - I seem to have missed a couple of months there. Nevermind - I do at least have semi-good excuses. The last half of May and the first half of June I was doing an online course in Software Testing - trying to see what a new career might look like :) - although now my fixed term contract has been turned into a permanent job, so I may not have to worry about career changes for a bit. Then the rest of June I was madly scrambling to get myself sorted for July - finishing off my notes for the project I was leading for Cyberpointers, sorting out our trip down country for my Grandmothers 90th birthday, and sorting out my trip to the biannual ANZEG conference (Association of New Zealand Embroidery Guilds). So not much stitching in there, but a lot of other things going on.

Finally last week, in the middle of writing this post, I had to take a trip to my other grandmothers funeral - it was good seeing family and getting to spend time with Mum and Dad, even if the reason for seeing them all was sad. But I'm back now, and trying hard to get back on track.

Which brings us to July. July is exciting. First there was Bargello Fun, designed by Carol Algie Higginbotham - the chapter book project I led for the Cyberpointers chapter of the American Needlepoint Guild. You may remember I was stitching it earlier in the year, but didn't feel I could share pictures until the meeting was over - well, now it is, so I can now show you the finished product.

Then we have the biannual ANZEG conference and embroidery school. This was my first time at conference and I really enjoyed myself. Nelson is a lovely town right in the center of NZ (so yes, I walked to the center and took a photo to prove I was there). I took two classes - Folded Boxes from Gary Clarke, and Peacock Splendour from Maree Talbot. Unsurprisingly neither of these is finished.

The Center of New Zealand

Folded boxes - see how the pattern is on the back and we're stitching from the back to make the pattern on the front.

Her finished casket was just stunning - I'd love to do the whole thing one day, but realistically, don't think I would as it's not my favourite type of stitching so can't see myself spending that much time on it.

And some photos from the gardens in Nelson - those textures and patterns...

Finally (I think, hopefully I haven't missed anything) is an update on Beetlewings and Bling. The best update of all too. It's finished!!!!

(one trying to show the 3D shape)

Oh - and the other project I'm looking at starting is a knitting one. I visiting Woolfest at the end of May and purchased 8 balls of the deliciously soft Bohemia Gothic wool from Outlaw Yarn, in a beautiful wine colour. It's 45% Polwarth, 45% Alpaca, and 10% Possum. I did have a pattern in mind when I purchased it, but now I'm not sure if it's the right wool for it, so I'm still browsing patterns and thinking.

Just to finish off I'll give you some photos from the bottom of the South Island - after Grandma's funeral we did a little bit of sightseeing so I'll share some of it with you.

In sorting these photos I discovered I've developed a very bad habit of putting my finger over the lens. In my defense, on the boat I was trying not to drop the phone - there would have been no retrieving it from the bottom of Milford Sound. And as always (at least in my case) the reality is so much better than the photos.

Some finishes and some updates

I've finally been stitching again in the last couple of weeks or so and have some progress to show.

First are a couple of ASG (Austin Stitchery Guild) projects that I started and finished at the meetings - a beaded Christmas Bell, and a patch for the crazy quilt project.

At the Antique Sampler satellite meeting you get a pin for every project you finish and bring for show and tell, so since I finished the bell at that meeting I got my first pin (they provide the pin cushion too):

Now for some progress pictures.

Tree of Stitches:

Happily Ever After (not so happily lagging in progress):

And Stained Glass Sampler:

Progress and new starts

As well as the class I've already posted about I've been doing a bit of other stitching lately. I've made good progress on my Stained Glass Sampler - almost all the 'leadwork' done, just a bit more gold to do:

Next up are a couple of new starts - first for my brothers wedding is Marie Barber's Happily Ever After - I have to thank a wonderful blogger for passing her chart on to me since it's now OOP. Yeah, I know, I need to stitch a bit faster than this if it's to be finished in time.

And for DH's approaching '0' birthday is Sue Hillis' Piracy - it would be going faster except that I'm trying to avoid stitching on it when he's around:

And finally, just for good measure, the latest Lego plane to land here - the Sopwith Camel (it goes nicely with the Fokker DR1 in this post too). There was also a matching small one but I haven't taken a photo of it:

Bookmarks and Classes

The bookmarks finished:

Next a bit more progress on Stained Glass Sampler:

And finally, I've spent the weekend doing a class with Michael Boren - Arabella Reborn - and here is my progress - I went for the bright pink option:

I also drooled over the colourways of Olive Grove and Amethyst, but I wasn't sure I wanted to stitch the same design twice (either Daphne or Arabella), so I'm going to wait and hope that there will be more in the series that I can do in other colourways. Otherwise, some day when I've run out of other things to stitch (rofl) I might think about restitching them in new colourways...

Stained Glass Sampler

Wow - two posts in one day.

I started my group correspondence class that I'm doing with the local chapter of ANG today - Stained Glass Sampler by Carol Algie Higginbotham:

Teacher bookmarks are stitched and just need to be finished (see these didn't take long Cheryl - only about an hour each):

And lastly the retirement gift - another, slightly larger, bookmark. The design is a mix of things from Cherry Parker and I'm stitching it on a piece of CountryStitch fabric - Dune I think: