You Are You and That's Enough

Isn't this a beautiful quote and something we females need to hear and say to ourselves often...

As females we play many roles of a partner, wife, mother, daughter, daughter in law, sister , care giver...the list is endless.

However, while playing these roles, there are times when we start doubting ourselves- Am I doing enough? Am I being a good mother while aspiring for a successful career? Do I fit the mould of a good wife defined by society?

I'm sure we all have been there, when we felt we could do more. As females, we have high expectations of ourselves , being our worst critics while others around us get may get praised for doing the bare minimum.

I stitched this quote for my Penpal's 40th birthday ... she is a go getter , always trying to fit more in her routine.

When the idea of stitching something for her big birthday came in mind, I knew I didn't want to stitch anything girlie or cutesy...

I decided to consult her what she wanted me to stitch , we discussed some sarcastic work/office related quotes . Well, then life happened and I got late in stitching her gift.

I liked this Emma Congdon design and finally decided to stitch this one.

I have been meaning to use my decent collection of laces and ribbons, all gifted by my mom and cross stitching friends.

Lace selection

Once the ribbon was selected, I explained the framer how to incorporate that in the frame.

As usual, I forgot to take a proper picture before framing. I see some minor issues with framing, let's see if you guys can spot it too.

Motif Cards and Washcloths

Hello Friends, 

Hope you are doing well. Where is time going this year.. can't believe we are in mid of the year . 

I wanted to share details of finishes I had last month , the gifts I sent to my colleagues in USA.

I visited my USA office in March and wanted to thank two of my colleagues for their hospitality . As with us crafters, we prefer to make something with hand as thank you gifts rather than store bought items, I thought of making a personalized wash cloth and something of cross stitch for them.

I found perfect yarn in my stash from my time in Kuwait  , and made these wash cloths with initials of their first name.

Alphabet square 
Designer : Heather
Design source :https://daisyandstorm.com/2021/05/10/daisy-storms-knitted-alphabet-squares-pattern-book/

Then I started thinking of which motif to stitch for my colleagues from the SAL. I stitched two motifs from Cliffside stitches Heritage Motifs Stitch-Along . I came to know about this SAL in December and thought of stitching motifs of countries I have visited for myself.

Ms. J shared how much she enjoyed her vacation in Italy with her family while we were chatting during my visit. So ,I picked this blackwork version of a Italian motif  to celebrate that. 

For Ms. K ,I chose cross stitched version of a Indian motif to remind her that she always has a friend in India.

Now the funny part is my initial plan was to finish these motifs in tiny pillows/ornaments. Well, that didn't work out, I couldn't find a perfect backing fabric to use. Also , I realized that stiff aida isn't ideal when using hand sewing to make ornaments. Another thing I learned is its better to use colored fabric to stitch on when making ornaments , buttons and laces look good on colored background instead of white.

Do you any such experiences or advice on this?

After the stitching finished and I had above realization, I got disheartened and almost gave up. Hubby suggested to sleep over it..voila it worked. Next morning I woke up with a new finishing idea , to finish as these cards /postcards . I found perfect material for the Indian motif, an old wedding card. Love upcycling !!!

The Italian Motif is finished using Colorbok designer paper . 

I packed these with some Indian souvenirs and dry snacks .

Happy to say that my colleagues liked the gifts.