IHSW April Check-in

Hello dear friends,

It's time to show what I stitched for International Hermit & Stitch weekend . If you don't know what  IHSW is, its a SAL which was started by Joysze at Random Ramblings .Here is how she describes it "International Hermit and Stitch Weekend takes place every 3rd full weekend of each month, from Friday till Sunday. In our very busy and hectic lives, IHSW is a chance for us to squirrel some time away for ourselves and "Hermit and Stitch." It is a time set aside to take care of us and our love for stitching."

Weekend in my part of the world is on Friday & Saturday, so I will be stitching from Thursday to Saturday and post on Sundays whenever I participate in IHSW.

I extended my IHSW to Sunday this time as my current WIP fitted the theme for Earth Day SAL on Stitch Maynia . I don't have a before picture , here are the progress pics on Friday and Sunday. Rosey here is a picture of  Twitch in the background.

I guess you can very well tell now that these are vases. I know it looked like a blue penguin(is that possible?) when I last showed you the pic for my GG post. Jo correctly guessed that it was a vase, I don't know how.

Not much progress because we went for 2 roof top movie screenings over the weekend. We are trying to make the most before we are hit by summer. For the uninitiated , while the western world waits for summer , we in Middle east run and hide from the summer heat. 
I downloaded few memes to help you understand whats summer like here 

Summer in Middle east

While in the UK or USA

Is this how your Summer looks like?

Its going to be 50 deg C (122 F ) soon and we will be stuck indoors. Even getting out in night will be tough. Don't worry everything here is air conditioned :houses, shops, offices but it can be as depressing to be indoors all the time due to heat as it can be due to snow.

So while enjoy last days of sitting outside , I hope you guys enjoy the spring or end of snow in your part of the world.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL April 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 a easy SAL where you have choice to stitch any designer, color or pattern, just that it should be a gift for someone or gift from someone.

I never got around to write a second GG post last month, so I will show the gifts I received in February & March.

I met my college friends during my last visit to India and was treated with beautiful handmade gifts.

First is a lovely crochet scarf made by friend S. I would like to be a narcissist here and tell you that I have been after S for picking up a hobby and pushing her to crochet whenever she gets time. I take a little pride in telling that she now crochets regularly and creates handmade beauties.

Next is a painting made my bestie . I love the blast of colors in this one, it even has my name Mini written in Hindi.

My friend A painted this coffee mug for me 

Birthday gifts from Tammy, elephant cross stitch card and chime from Sri Lanka and Cat cross stitch which resembles my cat Twitch.

If you are wondering will I ever show what gifts I made, the answer is yes.
I started a new project for which I may get triple GG points
1. The design is from a gifted magazine by Tammy
2. The fabric is a gift from a cross stitcher I met thru fb
3. Its a gift for my mother's 60th birthday.

Now only if you can guess what it is:

For anyone guesses it right, will get a postcard from me. 😀

Mid-life crisis:
I have been doing a lot of thinking these days about life , my goals , what I want to do in future . I took a one week break from crafting to get some perspective. Still looking for answers so crafting has taken a back seat and I'm OK with that for now. Meanwhile I'm enjoying cooking new recipes and most of my weekend time is spent in kitchen.

It's a long weekend here and we are enjoying the extra time at home, watching television ,sleeping and playing with my cat.

That's all my friends, I will be back with a IHSW report next week.

Smalls SAL March Check-in

Hello Friends,

Its last friday of the month , time to show what smalls we stitched during the month. I'm participating first time in Smalls SAL this year hosted by Heather. I decided to join this SAL as I usually stitch birthday cards or exchange pieces throughout the year and this gives me an additional chance to blog.

I have two small finishes, first is the one I wasn't able to show you in February.

I made this very simple birthday card for Tammy. Added some other small knitted items made in December to her birthday package.

The birthday card pattern is by Diane Machin, published in All-Occasion Charts, TWOCS, Issue 203. I have noticed that some designers are regular in magazines but its hard to find their designs otherwise. Diane Machin is one ...

Love Heart by Amanda Berry

The Almost Lost Washcloth by Julie Tarsha

Another small I made was Finn Owlet from Mill Hill for my owl loving husband's birthday.

Quite happy with my first mill hill kit finish, I think I might buy some more .

That's it my friends, I hope you have a Happy Easter if you are celebrating and enjoy your long weekend.

IHSW March Check-in

Hello dear friends,

It's time to show what I stitched for International Hermit & Stitch weekend . If you don't know what  IHSW is, its a SAL which was started by Joysze at Random Ramblings .Here is how she describes it "International Hermit and Stitch Weekend takes place every 3rd full weekend of each month, from Friday till Sunday. In our very busy and hectic lives, IHSW is a chance for us to squirrel some time away for ourselves and "Hermit and Stitch." It is a time set aside to take care of us and our love for stitching."

Weekend in my part of the world is on Friday & Saturday, so I will be stitching from Thursday to Saturday and post on Sundays whenever I participate in IHSW.

My stitching bug has been MIA , nothing unusual, happens to me every time I come back from a vacation.As I wasn't stitching sitting at home, I decided to go out of the house and socialise instead on Friday. Saturday was my craft meetup and I'm very excited to share that a new cross stitcher has joined the group. She is an avid cross stitcher who stitches Mirablias , uses scroll rods and hand dyed fabrics ! It was so much fun to talk in cross stitch lingo..parking, HAEDs,start from the centre or side , linen. As I went out twice during the  weekend, I extended IHSW to Sunday to accompany you ladies.

I worked on two projects, something I don't do normally.
I stitched on Mill Hill Kit- Emma Owlet. This was a new start during my vacation and was supposed to be a  birthday gift for hubby. Well that didn't happen, blame it on my mom , she kept me busy in other things 😁. I don't have a before picture to show, just the latest progress. This is my first time stitching on perforated paper and beading. As much I hated stitching with three strands, I'm enjoying beading to my surprise.

Next I stitched on Indian Peacock by Dimensions.Before and after pics

Though I didn't stitch much during the weekend, I did select a new project to start and kit it.So overall a good IHSW.

I would like to thank you all for the lovely comments on my last post about my husband's stitching. All I can say is :I'm blessed.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL March Update-When you are spoil rotten by the hubby

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 a easy SAL where you have choice to stitch any designer, color or pattern, just that it should be a gift for someone or gift from someone.

I received lots of hand made gifts during my recent visit to India but I would like to dedicate this post to surprise gifts I got from my husband. My husband is an avid supporter of my hobbies and goes out of the way to help me in my hobbies. He has creative genes in his body but chooses to use them only for me,I mean while making gifts for me.But this time he has outdone himself or I won't exaggerate if I say this is the best cross stitch gift I have ever got.He designed and stitched this for my birthday :

A cross stitch of Kuwait Towers, will be a perfect souvenir of our time in Kuwait

This is a cross stitch of Kuwait Towers, most famous landmark in Kuwait. When he gifted me this after a overnight flight , I was so sleepy I told him that I will look at it later.After a good sleep, when I saw it, my jaw just dropped. The colors are just so true to real life monument.He hasn't used pic-to-pat or any free online service to convert a picture. He designed this in MS excel , chose the colors from DMC palette and stitched it. Look how neat, all the stitches go in same direction...Wow ..just wow.Poor guy tells me each day after coming home from office he would eat food and just stitch so that he can complete the gift before I come back.

For people living in Kuwait or in this part of the world,it is very difficult to find patterns representing local culture or history. All the crafters I have met since I moved to Kuwait say there aren't any Kuwaiti designs available. This makes my gift more special...

Can you believe this is stiched by a newbie who has no experience of designing or cross stitch,has only done embroidery in school as part of craft class?

As if this wasn't enough, he bought me a sewing machine.I have been thinking of buying one since few years but couldn't justify the cost as I only use it twice a year . Don't worry I won't be getting into making dresses or clothes, it will be used for cross stitch finishes and mostly to alter my clothes.

Brother JA1400

Wait there is more, I was packing my knitting WIP for the holiday the night before the flight, when I casually said Hubby can you fix me a row counter? He goes out of the room and brings me one...this man can read my mind, I tell you!

A very simple knit counter perfect for my projects...I love it.

I feel so blessed to have a partner who not only supports my hobbies but puts in efforts to understand my craft needs and create gifts which suit my taste.

I will write a separate post for the other gifts soon, first to see if Jo will allow me to link up twice in a month. 

Smalls SAL February Check-in

Hello Friends,

Its last friday of the month , time to show what smalls we stitched during the month. I'm participating first time in Smalls SAL this year hosted by Heather. I decided to join this SAL as I usually stitch birthday cards or exchange pieces throughout the year and this gives me an additional chance to blog.

I stitched two Smalls this month, but can't show one as it has still not been gifted to the recipient. After finishing  my big project and first Small, I wasn't feeling inspired to pick my WIP-Indian peacock. Stitchers on Instagram were showing some cute Valentine finishes and one particular design caught my eye. You see, hubby and I are not very particular about celebrating Valentine's day but if we find something good for each other for the occasion , we make or buy it.

I stitched this freebie from Hands on Design , though I must confess that the reason I chose this design from all of Cathy's freebies was to use one particular fabric in my stash. You see I bought half yard of 32ct Misty blue linen in 2015 but never got around to use this. Unlike many of you talented stitchers, its difficult for me to deviate from called for floss and fabric in patterns as I like or shall we say my mind works best when I follow instructions to T.

As this was a surprise, I had to stitch this in hiding. Pretty easy for most people, but not me. Hubby and I work in same office, so we are practically together 24 hours of the day. I'm not complaining, I won't have it any other way. But the situation makes it difficult to arrange surprises. I stitched this piece in office while husband was sitting in the same cubicle, with his back towards me. 😉

I made a counting mistake in the border and I'm not happy with the finishing. However, hubby liked the tiny gift and we talked about how I stitched it in office while eating the yummy cake.

I'm writing this post in advance and will schedule it to be posted on Friday as I'm travelling to India for a short vacation.Will visit your blogs when I'm back.

IHSW February Check-in

Hello dear friends,

It's time to show what I stitched for International Hermit & Stitch weekend . If you don't know what  IHSW is, its a SAL which was started by Joysze at Random Ramblings .Here is how she describes it "International Hermit and Stitch Weekend takes place every 3rd full weekend of each month, from Friday till Sunday. In our very busy and hectic lives, IHSW is a chance for us to squirrel some time away for ourselves and "Hermit and Stitch." It is a time set aside to take care of us and our love for stitching."

Weekend in my part of the world is on Friday & Saturday, so I will be stitching from Thursday to Saturday and post on Sundays whenever I participate in IHSW.

Very happy to be showing you a new WIP for this post, I'm sure everyone was bored to see the same project -my nemesis project for 2 years now.

I picked up my new year new start for 2017 on Tuesday after stitching some smalls . This was also my project for Work That WIP 2018 - February SAL on Stitch Maynia. Here is how the project looked like on Wednesday 

Progress over the weekend

After working on 25 count evenweave for last few months, it feels different to work on Aida, the squares on fabric look so big , working with two threads is clumsy as the threads keep twisting and have to railroad for the stitches to lie flat. But then there is progress which is visible.I'm trying to do one color at a time, which I find very satisfying.

If you are wondering why the progress is less for a full weekend of stitching , its because Murphy's law came into play. You see I rarely go out on weekends or have any social life apart from my bi monthly craft gatherings. But I have observed that for IHSW , I will have social visits or will have to go out.This Friday we had a distant family member come over for dinner , on Saturday I met a bunch of expat ladies for breakfast whom I met thru Instagram.
Here a few pictures of the arabic food we had at Ayyame, all delicious.

Cheese & herbed Tabliya

Falafel with arabic bread

Gerse Ogaily

Though I must confess I'm not complaining about lack of stitching time , I love cooking , meeting new people and trying new food ☺.

I would like to thank you all for the comments on my last post, it felt like we all were celebrating my finish together.