Hello from Kansas City , Part 2 !

Hi everyone,

It's hard to believe 1/4th of 2025 has gone by ...

Here I am sharing what else I did during my visit to Kansas City .

After the meetup ,my friend took me to a middle eastern restaurant for lunch. I was very conscious this time about ordering food in the USA- the portion size is huge, you are always asked about sides and drinks. 

There are so many cultural differences between dining out in India and USA. Major ones being- portion size, sharing of food and tipping culture. Not going to talk about these here, if you are interested to know about Indian dining culture , leave me a comment.

After much contemplation I ordered falafel sandwich with grilled veggies , side of lentil soup. Both were delicious.

If you have been following crafty news , you may be aware that Joann's , which is chain of big craft stores in USA is closing down. I came to know about it in January thru a office portal and I planned to visit it during my visit. My colleague was so kind to drive me to the nearest Joann's , her sister joined us and we scavenged thru the aisles. I picked up one skein of each DMC floss available. So happy I was able to add new colors to my stock.

Next day, my colleagues took me to Kansas city Zoo and Aquarium. I usually skip zoos but it was such a nice day to be outside that I took the chance.

Got to see some new to me animals.

On the second day of my trip, my team and I volunteered at a thrift store. Now, thrift stores don't exist in India and volunteering and community service isn't part of school /college system and doesn't earn you credits. My colleagues in the USA have to complete certain amount of volunteering hours as part of employment. I love thrift store concept and volunteering at one of them was such an enriching experience. Here is what I picked up from the thrift store.

I had an extra day before I flew back to India- my team took me to Kauffman Centre for the Performing arts and we were able to get a tour of the facility.

One of the visual and auditory highlights of Helzberg Hall is the Julia Irene Dennie-Kauffman Casavant Organ, Opus 3875. This custom-built instrument was commissioned to showcase incredible sound, elegant beauty, and perfect harmony complementing the acoustical and visual design of Helzberg Hall.

I close this post with the picture of these cross stitch leaflets/booklets my teammate gave me. She was talking to her mother about how I do cross stitch , her mother who is down sizing very generously sent these for me. How often do you meet people who gift stuff to strangers? 

I'm humbled by the love and affection my team showered me during my short trip.

Hello from Kansas City!!!

Hello and almost bye from Kansas City !!! 4 hrs until I leave for airport to start my 30 hour journey for home.

This is my second time visiting Kansas city , both times for work.

Interesting fact about Kansas city is it lies between two states -Missouri and Kansas. I go to work and stay in different cities :)

I couldn't have asked for a better weather to visit...my cold weather loving body enjoyed it so much.

I got to see a blizzard with snow, super hot sunny days, winds upto 50mph and rain..all in 12 days. And its snowing as I write the blog.

This time I got to do one of my most favourite things - attend a craft meetup at a local craft cafe when travelling to a new country. I have done that before twice in past, I just realised may be I didn't share about it.

Last time I visited Kansas city , I came with colleagues so didn't think of doing my hobby stuff...however this time I started looking up yarn /craft stores, meetups a month in advance.

I asked my one and only local friend if she would like to attend a meetup, she agreed. So last Saturday we drove to this quaint yarn store who hosts social hours regularly. The day I went there, there was a trunk show. 

My knitting

Yarns by Yarniculture

To my surprise , it was a big turn out. We almost ran out of space to sit. 20 + people sat in this beautiful cafe knitting, crocheting , chatting for 2 hours. Oh I loved it!!!

I have talked about attending meetups during my travels, and people have told me its a novel idea.. most people don't even think of that. My friend  was surprised to know how many craft stores I knew her city. 

After the meetup , we went for lunch...I will cover that in my next post..

Wish me luck for a long journey home.

Let's try this again!!

Hi Blog Friends,

Exactly 1 year ago I posted on this blog trying to explain why I have been absent for years...

I was expecting little more engagement and may be got discouraged by the absence of comments on that post.

Though I have not been blogging this last year, I have been reading blogs on my reading list and leaving comments here and there.

Today I observed that some bloggers continue to blog even if there is no engagement from readers. This got me to thinking that may be I should also start blogging again...it may not serve the purpose of connecting with other cross stitchers , at least it will serve as a diary for my projects .

You see when I started blogging in 2014, it was to connect with other cross stitchers around the world . Instagram was still new and not used for cross stitch by many people . Blog and Facebook groups were common media for cross stitch related interactions back then. 

Things have certainly changed in last 10 years, people are moving to more easier to use platform -Instagram . So many bloggers stopped blogging ...Hats off to the ones who still blog regularly .

I don't want to give up on blogging yet , so here I am ...

Sharing a project which I finished in Mar 2021. This was custom order from my close friend for her nephew. I gave here the design options and she picked this one.

The recipient lived close by to my then house, so I hand delivered it .

              Pattern name :Ten Tiny Toes Sampler
              Designer: DMC
               Pattern source: DMC

I still enjoy this finish ..hope you do too.

Hi, it's me!!

Hello Blog world, Its been two years since I posted on this blog, not sure if anyone follows me now. 

Its a new year, best time to start /restart something ..It has bugged me a lot that I gave up on blogging for such a long time. The main reason I wasn't blogging was I wasn't cross stitching ...as this is mainly a cross stitch blog , I couldn't find a reason to blog. 

Not sure if anyone noticed my absence or cares ...but I still feel I owe a reason for my disappearance. I lost my father in May 2021 ...and it just turned my world upside down.

Within a span of next 3 months, I lost my paternal aunt, my maternal aunt and a cousin to COVID. Though these family members weren't directly involved in my hobbies, I lost my motivation to do anything creative with so much sorrow in the family. 

I cross stitched a total 5-6 days on 2022-2023, so don't have much to show. However I recently finished a project I started in April 2021, will share it in next post if there is some interest.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL April 2021 update

 Hello Friends,

It's that time of the month when we show what gifts we have been working on or/and what crafty gifts we have received. If you don't know what I'm talking about , check Jo's blog for more info. This is an easy SAL where you have a choice to stitch any designer, color or pattern, just that it should be a gift for someone or gift from someone.

I can't believe I'm posting on 15th itself...its a miracle. Also my first GG post for the year.

First up is a gift I made for my mother , a pillow ornament  which turned out to be bigger than expected.

The pattern was a part of subscription gift of India's only craft magazine "Anchor Needle n thread " , it was a cover kit with fabric, floss and pattern.

This was my first time stitching on canvas and second time stitching with metallic thread. I'm rather proud of my hand sewing skills here.

Pattern from Anchor Needle n thread magazine

In January, I got around to getting my few of my finished projects framed. Below piece was delayed for framing as I wasn't able to get a proper charm. I had to get it reframed as the first time the fabric wasn't properly aligned. This was a birthday gift for my husband last year.

Pattern name :Without a Cat
Designer: Jan Eaton
Pattern source: Tom Pudding Designs

I'll save the other framed pieces for next month. Feels nice to post on time..

Take care and stay safe

Let the People Choose-April 2021 Update

Hello Friends,

First Saturday of the month I join Jo for The People's Choice SAL, however its been half a year I last joined. Jo takes a poll for people to choose a topic for the month and the participants then post about stitchy projects related to that topic.

This month's topic is Blue. Blue is a lovely color and at one stage of my life, most of my clothes were blue.

As blue is such a lovely color, it finds its way in many cross stitch designs . I will share few finished projects which are predominantly blue:

Annee Du Lapin
Freebie by Gazette94

Say it with stitches

Designer: Rhona Norrie

Pattern source: Freebie from Gathered.how

Designer: Susan Bates
Freebie from gathered.how

Cat Trio
Designer: Durene Jones
Pattern source: TWOCS Magazine,Feb 2016

One that is a long time WIP:

Indian Peacock By Dimensions

There are few other blue projects I have finished, I will save them for future themes.

Happy Sunday.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL December 2020 update

Hello Friends,

It's that time of the month(I know I know, its late to say that) when we show what gifts we have been working on or/and what crafty gifts we have received. If you don't know what I'm talking about , check Jo's blog for more info. This is an easy SAL where you have a choice to stitch any designer, color or pattern, just that it should be a gift for someone or gift from someone.

Not much stitching happening these days, that's the reason I'm not posting here. Wonder if anybody even noticed my absence?

Clare sent me photograph of the fully finished flower I stitched for her Church Christmas tree . How very kind of her to remember to send pics to the contributors!

She finished it beautifully in a flat fold ornament, you can read about her tree here.

Another gift which was stitched in 2018 but was used now is this ornament I gifted to my penpal for her birthday today.

This was a cover kit from The World of Cross Stitching Magazine and was received in an exchange with Kerry, who no longer blogs.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year