Saturday 30 April 2016

Progress update and some goodies

Hello dearies,

Can you believe that April has come to end ? That means we are past 1/3 rd of this year.

I feel sad because this year I haven't been able to stitch as much as I would like to. Infact 54% of the time I haven't stitched at all.That's what my monthly and yearly pies tell .

Anyways, I shouldn't be too hard on myself,after all cross stitching is a hobby and we are supposed to enjoy it.

Let's do a quick monthly round up. A new start and some progress on a WIP.
HoM Mystery SAL
Started on 8th April 2016
Khristine, you wanted to know how did my planned rotation go. I would say not bad. I devoted equal time to the two projects. The reason I didn't get much progress on EMS piece is that July flower is full of confetti.18 colors for 34*34 motif..that's too much.
EMS FOTM
April Progress
However I'm happy with my progress on HoM Mystery SAL piece,the pattern has chunks of single color stitches and doesn't need much counting.I'm one week behind the SAL as I was out of town last weekend.I'm thinking that I will stitch this piece during the week days as its easy to work on with tired mind.
I was going through my old posts and realised that I never showed you the needlework pieces I got from my mom in February.
So here they are:
Crochet piece made by mom
Knitted tea cozy made by mom
Knitted doll made by mom
Crochet piece by my maternal grandmother
I feel so lucky to be able to display these heirlooms in my house now. I know , these may be not the best of heirlooms you have seen. However all these are more than 35 years old, used roughly in environment full of dust. My mom and grandmother didn't have access to any books and patterns in those days and these are things they must have made by looking at a similar piece.

Now I would like to show you the best tool for cross stitching I have acquired till date..

This is the stand/frame I use for holding my Q snaps and hoop. Its sturdy ,flexible ,easy to carry and dismantle.
One day while I was stitching using my Q snaps and was finding it difficult to hold it in my hands, I showed DH some of the frames which stitchers use. I asked him can we get one made as we have some wood work going in our house in India. He said let me look into it.
One hour later he comes home with these 2 holders and fixes it on a chair and shows me how it can hold my Qsnaps. Easy peasy and cheap (around $7). He told that these were being sold as mobile holders in one of the super markets.
Oh I love it !The stand lets me use both my hands for stitching and my stitches are neater too.

I may not have much stitching to show this month but I'm sure you will like all the other goodies in this post.


15 comments:

  1. I am glad that a rotation is working for you! I really got off mine these past couple months but the last week I have back on track :) Your projects look wonderful! Can't wait to see how the mystery SAL turns out. Beautiful crochet pieces you received! And what talent to just make up the pattern without a book! I just love home made gifts :) Great idea your hubby had for a stand! I am going to be on the lookout for some of those clips.

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  2. All your stitching is coming along. I can't believe you made pie charts. Ha! Mine would be somewhat similar as in the past week or so I've not felt very creative at all but can finally feel my mojo returning. Nice way to hold your cross-stitch. Not sure I could do it as I've never worked with a hoop and am used to just rolling my aida and stitching that way. Though I have to say, an injury to my left thumb is making even that difficult when I have to hold the material for too long. All the projects from your mom and grandma are lovely. Good that you have and are displaying them proudly. Hope May is a good month for you.

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  3. Wonderful heirloom goodies, I love your DH's cleverness in making you the stand and lovely stitching - every stitch counts!

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  4. Great work on the two pieces you did focus on. The flowers look very fiddly but very pretty too.
    How lovely to have some pieces from your relatives. I have one sampler stitched half by Mum and half by me plus two pictures embroidered by my Great Aunt. Oh, and some tapestry cushions from Mum.
    The stand is awesome, very clever!
    For the no-stitching days, can you try fit in just ten minutes while you drink a tea or coffee? Just so you feel you got some stitches in?

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  5. What treasures from your relatives! It's so nice to have handmade goodies. I rarely go a day without stitching. I wouldn't know what to do with myself!

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  6. What a handy man you have :)
    Brilliant idea !
    Love your crochets gift, my mum sadly never did any crafting but i have one framed piece made with woll( ?) from my grandmother so i treasure that one :)
    Love your pie :)
    Were is the mistery sal from ?
    I remember the july one very good it took me allso longer then the rest but it turned out really beautiful
    Look forward to see your next update
    Wish you a lovely monday

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  7. Your stitching is looking lovely! I haven't done much either in April. Beautiful pieces from your mom and grandma :) my paternal grandma taught me how to crochet. She used to work with size 20 or size 40 thread. I had seen in my school days when I visited her in vacation and thought will I ever have that patience to use a thin thread.
    Nice tool from your hubby! It is always good to have right tools, it saves from lot of physical problems. I guess you use digital designs also. Get an iPad stand as well. It can be dismantled but still have long pieces. It comes with a charging cord and is flexible. I am using for past three years and I got that as a surprise gift from my husband :)

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  8. Your projects show some nice progress although you didn't have as much time for stitching as you wanted to. Maybe May will provide more stitching time for you.
    These crochet pieces from your mom are so sweet.
    Great idea from your husband and it seems to work fine for you.

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  9. Lovely pieces from your mother and grandmother! And what a clever idea for a stand.

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  10. Really like the latest flower of the month, the hues of blue are just so pretty!!

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  11. Clever idea your new stand.
    Lovely craftwork by your family members

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  12. I enjoy seeing your mom's and grandmother's works, Mini! You have a very talented family :) Nice progress on your creations, too!

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  13. The Flower of the month piece looks wonderfull -well done !

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  14. Nice progress on your stitching. What fun pieces you have from your mom and grandmother. I love that colorful crocheted doily!

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  15. Wow, I love the idea of that tool.I've to look for them now.Thanks for the tip :)

    Deepa
    http://deepashome.blogspot.com

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