Summer Postcard Blog Hop

Hello Friends,

Welcome to the Summer Postcard Blog Hop hosted by Jo at  http://serendipitousstitching.blogspot.com. The theme this year is "International". Well cross stitching blogging community is quite international with bloggers from North America, Europe and Asia. Our gracious host let us use of our imagination for the interpretation of theme and here is the postcard I received.

This postcard was sent by Jocondine who blogs at http://jocondine.blogspot.com/  .

The message is:

No question of French bread (baguette) this time but you can keep your beret on your head for Japanese cuisine!

Love

Jocondine 

Such beautiful stitching but I must confess that I haven't tried Japanese cuisine yet.

I hope you are having a lovely summer with family and friends .

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL July 2019 update

Hello Friends,

I know I'm late ....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.

First is the giveaway prize I received from Rosey .

I don't have much to show you this month, I think my stitching bug is dead 😭.I'm worried and sad that I'm unable to pick my needle with all the time on my hands.I decided to not take a full time job when I moved to India so as to focus more on my hobbies but nothing of this sort is happening. Ladies, what should I do, I feel so lost.

Anyways I started this project to use leftover yarn given by my mom, the pattern is called Memory blanket.

Nothing else to share ...I'm sad that I'm not crafting .
No crafting during IHSW as I’m traveling to visit my husband’s college friend in neighboring state.
I will try to visit your blogs once I’m back.
Have a good weekend.

Let the people choose-July-Finishing

Hello Friends,

Today I join Jo for another SAL which she is hosting called THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE SAL. You can read about it on her blog.

The theme for this month is Finishing-that is final finishing.

I haven't been posting on my blog as I'm still not crafting specially cross stitching since my move. So I didn't think I could post for this SAL, however Jo's post gave me some ideas.

I have read that most of the stitchers dread finishing and have a pile of completed projects waiting to be framed or turned into something.
Call me weird but I have never dreaded finishing. In fact , I'm not boasting, I don't have a single project waiting to be FFOed. Well there are two reasons for that : fully finishing makes me super happy , secondly all my stitching is done for gifts, so I try to FFO the gift before giving it to the recipient. I made a mistake of not framing two pieces and gave the stitched project as gift. The pieces  haven't been framed after 3 years(I know that because I keep asking about it) and it hurts me...Anyways
I have tried few easy methods of finishing my projects apart from framing, let me show you the first of each kind.
My first book mark, made in Aug 2014 .

Now something you can laugh at , a project pasted on cardboard and covered with clear plastic sheet. Look what I did to the logo of Volkswagon😅

My first cross stitched card , made in Feb 2015 .

First heart shaped ornament,made in July 2015

First pillow shaped ornament,made in July 2015

First fridge magnet, made in Aug 2015

First hanging :stitched piece glued to foam sheet, made in Sep 2015

First hanging :stitched piece hung on plastic hanger that came with the kit, made in Nov 2015

First cushion cover finish, made in Dec 2015

First hanging :stitched piece sewn in as insert on fabric, made in Dec 2015

First project as potpurri sachet which was pre sewn,made in Feb 2016:

First ATC ,made in Sep 2016

First luggage tag, my own design

First biscornu, made in Mar 2017

First no-sew cube,made in June 2018

First hoop finish,made in June 2018

Oh, I'm tired just including the pictures,I'm sure you are too looking at them.
Year 2015 was clearly a fantastic year with so many firsts. Actually this was the year I discovered cross stitch blogs and was inspired to try finishing other than framing.

Do you have a favourite among these?
May be looking at all these finishes will inspire me to pick up my needle.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL June 2019 update

Hello Friends,

Thank you for all the lovely comments on my last post.I'm glad you liked the pictures of my new city.

I know I'm late ....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 have been working on baby gifts as my penpal recently gave birth to a baby girl. After thinking hard what wold be appropriate and quick gifts, I made these:

Will be made into a card
Design :Durene Jones

Bib
Pattern name :Hearts for Ruthie
Pattern source : Ravelry

I also finished this scarf which was started in Feb 2018. The yarn was a gift from my husband.

Drop stitch scarf
Pattern source : Ravelry

This is a very quick post, though I would have liked to write about the challeneges I faced in making in the bib.

I will try to be back for IHSW report, till then happy crafting.

Hello from Mumbai!

Hello Friends,

How have you been? Hope you missed me...😀

I write this post from my new home in Mumbai, capital of Maharashtra, a central state in India. Its been 48 days since we landed in Mumbai with dozen of bags and a scared cat.

While the house is far from "set" , I have been missing blogging so thought of writing a quick post.

For those of you who don't know Mumbai, erstwhile Bombay, is financial capital of India. Its one of the largest and most populous city in the country.The city is home to business houses established in British colonization era and to Indian movie industry called Bollywood apart from many other things.

The city has always caught attention of people from other parts of the country as well other countries and is called City of Dreams, City that never sleeps .Millions of people from across breadth of India come to Mumbai everyday to fulfill their dreams.

So far things have been good and I'm enjoying my new role of being at home(won't use the word housewife). I have decided to take things slowly , we only have a running kitchen and furniture in master bedroom .

What I enjoy most is the freedom of roaming around without carrying a residence proof. If you wonder why I say that its because in Kuwait , every expat has to carry a residence proof at all times and failure to do so can lead to deportation.

The second thing I enjoy most is how well connected the city is, the public transport is like a spider web here with intracity trains called local, metro trains, buses and monorail apart from autorickshaws and taxis. I have been able to go to places whenever I want by myself without spending a fortune on taxis .

One such day was last Saturday when I took a local to attend WWKIP (World Wide Knit in Public day) organised by Mumbai Ravelers. If you have followed me for a while, you know how KIP is a very important part of my crafty life , I hosted 3 KIPs in Kuwait with the very first in country in 2015.
Though I didn't organise or host KIP this time , I suggested the group meets on 8th after I joined it. Apparently the group hadn't met in months (over 2 years?).

We met at a cozy cafe which hosts Yoga sessions ,a total of 12 ladies attended the meetup and it was so much fun. The group is so talented with variety of crafts like weaving, knitting and crocheting. Some of them are designers, I was in awe!.

I share a picture of all the projects displayed together, though I wanted to click individual pictures of these projects.

On personal crafting front , I haven't been crafting much. Recently picked up my knitting needles and finished a scarf. Pictures to follow later.

While we have been busy setting up the house , we did take time out to explore the city. Husband and I are such travel addicts that we couldn't wait for us to settle down fully to explore the city. I will share a few pictures . Feel free to read about these buildings/monuments on wikipedia or ask in comments.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus ,also known by its former name Victoria Terminus , is a historic railway station and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.The station was designed by Frederick William Stevens according to the concept of Victorian Italianate Gothic Revival architecture and meant to be a similar revival of Indian Goth (classical era) architecture. The station was built in 1887 .

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus or Victoria Terminus 

 The Municipal Corporation Building, Mumbai,built in 1893. Architectural style Gothic Revival style.

Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Mandai , popularly known by its former name Crawford Market , is one of South Mumbai's most famous markets. 

I would like to be more regular with my travel posts now compared to Kuwait , I hope I'm able to share more of this hobby of mine with you.

Friends, I have been reading your blogs , however as I do it from my mobile, leaving a comment is not possible. Once things get more settled , I will try to make a schedule for reading blogs from my laptop.

I hope you enjoy this update as much as you liked reading about my life in Kuwait.

Will see you for GG SAL update soon.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL April 2019 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.

Warning :This is a picture heavy post.

If you read my second last post , you know that I'm moving out of Kuwait. I have been showered with gifts from friends here , specially my craft group. I think I have shared over the years that my craft group was a big part of my life here in Kuwait , infact for some years it was the only reason I used to get out of the house on weekends. So obviously , I'm going to miss my craft group the most .

Here are the crafty and handmade gifts I received last month.

Lovely Canadian Chaussette yarn handwoven by Mineville Wool. Gifted by Jody

This tote was gifted to me by friend Rene, who not only made the crochet mandala, painted the other side but also sewed the tote herself.Isn't she super talented? I have never seen such neat fabric painting .

Look at this super gorgeous shawl gifted to me for my birthday by my friend Z.

Am I lucky or what?

Another gift is  Free mag from World Craft Week, I know what you may be thinking, how do I manage to score all these free mags 😛

I haven't been crafting for obvious reasons , however I made some simple and quick gifts

A Rug and a Hug for a Mug ,pattern by Cathy Rubin
Made for Tammy

Simple Garter Coaster, pattern from Mr. Darcy Creations, made for Jeena

At last some cross stitch , I stitched this lovely pattern from Durene Jones for my crazy cat friend Rene. The pattern was so easy to follow , I enjoyed making it even though I haven't done many full coverage pieces.

Pattern by Durene Jones from The World of Cross Stitching Magazine, Feb 2016.

That's it my friends for today and may be for a few more weeks. On this day next week, I will be in a different country , standing in guest house surrounded by cartons.
Hope to settle down soon and come back to routine. Send me your good wishes virtually .

Let the people choose-April-Speciality stitches

Hello Friends,

Today I join Jo for another SAL which she is hosting called THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE SAL. You can read about it on her blog.

The theme for April is Speciality  Stitches, basically any stitch which is not cross stitch.

I'm quite a newbie to cross stitching so my focus is mainly to expand my knowledge on it rather than any new stitching methods. I'm still to discover a pattern with Speciality Stitches which fall into category "have to do". However if the cross stitch pattern calls for any, I try and make them.

Here are few projects which had Speciality Stitches:

Free hand embroidery using lasy daisy stitches 

Project name :Heart Biscornu
Contains Spider web stitch

Project name :Gorgeous Gingham
Contains Symrna stitch

Having said that I'm not attracted to Speciality stitches , I realise that I do like Blackwork which is another form of counted threadwork. If you have known me for a bit, you may know that I had absolutely no access to cross stitch techniques , supplies etc while growing up . Its a long story...so cut to Jan 2016 , I discovered a project I made in college in my grandma's trunk.
This is the piece:

When I made this,I had no clue it was called blackwork...😲
Some recent finishes

I have a few blackwork projects I would like to do specially the one from Ajisai Press 

Ladybug & Daisy from Ajisai designs

Have you seen the freebie projects from Blackwork journey, they are absolutely gorgeous

I hope I haven't enabled you much 😛. May be one day I will learn some new stitches ...