Love Me Not- and a crazy idea

Here is an update on Love Me Not. I have seen this one finished, and it is gorgeous. I hope to finish mine some day... which brings me to my crazy idea. I have decided to see how long I can stitch on ONE HAED. I would love to have a finish, so I'm going to concentrate on Vision of Light and see how far I can go. I'll throw a few samplers in and also continue to stitch with the various SALs, but as of this moment forward, I want to finish Vision of Light.

I've never been a OAATr, as you can see from my blog, so this is a big commitment. I have 59,400 stitches left. If I can at least get 30,000 done, that would accomplish one of my HAED Challenge goals.

So, here's my before pic of VoL. Let's see how long I can keep this up!!

Mermaid of the Deep

This is my most recent HAED WIP. The 4th weekend SAL happened to be "Creature SAL," and I hadn't touch this one since a new start SAL last year! I am happy with the creepy crawley. The original can be seen in the sidebar. It's by Jasmine Beckett Griffith. I had to work all night Saturday, so I didn't get as much done as I would have liked.... overall about 1600 stitches.

Awen Inspiration

Here's another update on Awen. This is about 60 hours of work. I am finally to the butterfly body on the right. Everytime I work on this it makes me happy- I love all those bright colors! Now on to darker stitching. Fire and Ice on black fabric from Kustom Krafts and then Mermaid of the Deep for this weekend's Creature SAL on the HAED BB.

New Pix

Finally a new HAED pic from last weekend's SAL and one for this weekend's HAEDless Sampler SAL.

I really enjoyed putting some red stitches in QS Red Poppy. Doesn't go along as easily as the green, but still enjoyable.

VoHRH is my 40 ct gauze endeavor. It goes very quickly. I didn't get to stitch at all on Saturday because I was sick, but I hope to be able to do the entire 2nd block next time around if I don't have to work...

Marquoir Mystery Sampler

I just can't stop working on samplers lately... This weekend I have actually been stitching QS Red Poppy, but I don't have my pics taken yet. Thought I would show you all the one I stitched before which is Marquoir. This is the 3rd time I have started it. I am finally happy with my three chosen colors in VC silks (black cherry, mulberry, french artichoke- unsure what the new names are now). This is a random fabric- 28 ct. rose overdye lugana (unsure what the real color is-). Sorry the pic is a little lopsided.

Polly Phillip 1772 Update

Finally an update!! I couldn't put this one down. She is so bright and happy... I loved stitching her, especially since I got to use HDF silks. I hope to get back to her soon- but I really need to work on some of my HAED WIPs. I think I like the sampler so much because I can actually get a lot done in one sitting. With a HAED, I may get 100 confetti stitches done and not feel like I've accomplished much of anything. They say slow and steady wins the race- guess I'm back to turtle stitching on Gatekeeper. lol

Update on me....

OK, so the HAEDless 3rd week Sampler SAL has finally broken the HAED spell. I didn't think it was possible. My first love was samplers, but since I found HAED in Nov of 2006, I have been exclusively stitching big complicated HAED charts. After stitching VoHRH, I stitched some of Gatekeeper, then started working on Polly Phillip 1772 again. I hadn't touched it in 2 years or so. I can't seem to put it down. I have completed the tree, some butterflies, a sheep and have now started the lady in the first panel. The outside border is traditional cross stitch, but the panels are over one continental stitch. I am loving it. Since it is in the rotation, I guess I am still on the rotation- I usually just stitch 10 hours on a piece, but I don't limit myself to 10. I am currently on 60 hours straight of PP. Unheard of!! I am usually sick of a piece by the end of a long weekend. I don't know... maybe I am trying to be a OAATr??? Probably not. I should be back on the HAED wagon by the 2nd week of Feb when the HAED Challenge SAL for February starts. But the next weekend is the sampler weekend... PP again?? I think it all stems from the fact that the sampler is SO MUCH EASIER. Not the million color changes in a 100 stitch block... I can see real progress. I promise to post a pic before the next HAED SAL of PP. She is going to be beautiful- bright colors in VC silks... can't get any better than that!!

I'll leave you with a non-stitching pic- this is my little red min pin Vinny along with the meanest kitten I have ever known (Rambo/Mac/little turd- various names for him) and in the background is Rocky his orange brother that very nearly met his demise after being attacked by a pit bull. After a few days of ICU at my house with injections of Valium for seizures and fluids/ force feeding every 2 hours he decided to live...