Birthday Hedgehog

Hi Stitchers!
I have finished stitching my Birthday Hedgehog at the end of September, but then I didn’t have much time to finalize it. The chart is from CrossStitcher magazine #230 (October 2010).

I decide to give the piece to my daughter’s classmate, Siti Alifa Aulia a.k.a Ifa. She will have her birthday coming up in November 11.

After downloading the mount from this link, I decide to frame it instead of making birthday card.



It has been quite a challenge stitching this piece, because it has so many fractional cross stitches to form the flowers at the hedgehog back… My eyes really work hard… LOL…

Starting My Kebyar Duduk

Reunion, done. Report, done. Housework, done. Project presentation, done.
Yippie... it is time to start stitching again!!

This is how far I have stitched, my Balinese Kebyar Duduk Dancer..



Well, I can't help to do some research about this traditional Balinese dance. Here's the search result from Bali dance and drama. They even provide a video of the dance at the website.

In 1925 I Ketut Maria (also known as Mario’) the most famous Balinese dancer of this century, debuted his Kebyar Duduk a dance performed entirely while seated on the ground. With no narrative to tell, the Kebyar dancer presents a range of moods from coquettishness to bashfulness, and from sweet imploring to anger. Mario himself performed this while playing the trompong (a long instrument with 14 inverted kettle gongs), using theatrics and flashy moves to coax sound from the instrument.

(Kebyar Duduk Dancer photograph courtesy of Farl, 2008)

Big Reunion

It has been very hectic weeks... Me and several friends organized a reunion party for Industrial Engineering Department, as part of Bandung Institute of Technology - Class of 1990 Big Reunion. It has been 20 years since the first time we walked into our campus, known in Indonesia as ITB (Institut Teknologi Bandung). Our friends had spread to various parts of the world. Most of us are rarely met. But thanks to social networking and technology, we were able to track down our long lost friends.

We held the reunion on October 9, 2010. We have been preparing the event since April!! Tracking down friend's locations took the most time. The physical preparation began in August; collecting funds, designing T-shirt, selecting the menu, choosing kid's goodie bag, and so on.





We were very excited when we met, off course. Some of us change, some of us still look the same (except the size and weight, perhaps...).

And at the final event of the reunion, our department got several award from the reunion committee. Industrial Engineering were the first department to collect the required reunion fee. And our friend, Teddy, was the one who traveled the farthest to get to Indonesia. It took him 24 hours to get to Indonesia from Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA.

And after the reunion, I felt so exhausted but happy. But then I had to deal with my deadlines at work. That was why I didn't have time for my needle and flosses.. :)

Now, things are slowing down a bit. Maybe it is time to get back to my WIP(s). Wish me luck !!!!