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 ...