Gifted Gorgeousness SAL May 2020 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.

Last Saturday, Hubby and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary and I made a little gift for him.

This is a free pattern from Cathy at Hands on Design. Here is the finish from designer look like

Picture courtesy :Hands on design

As you can see, I changed everything in this pattern:fabric,floss color and finished look.
I downloaded this pattern in 2018 , wanting to stitch it for anniversary in 2018. Well, better late than never.
The buttons you see in this design are my maternal grandmother's . Last year, I visited my maternal uncle's house with my mom. During the visit,my aunt , mom and I went up to the store room on the terrace to see what can be used from stuff left behind by my grandparents. I got my hands on these buttons, some zippers and some crocheted pieces. My maternal grandmother was a master crocheter, knitter and embroiderer in addition to be a wonderful cook.
I also wanted to share this macrame key ring I made after attending a free workshop on Instagram this Tuesday. The workshop was designed to use materials we had at home , yarn scraps, threads etc.

I don't know about other countries ,however a lot of Indian artists, crafters and organisations have been conducting free or minimal cost online workshops to help people cope with the pandemic. My snail mailing friend encouraged me to check these workshops as she herself benefited from one she attended. 
I think it's a great idea to learn a skill or two and/or share your skills with others.
Please share if you have picked up any new hobby or a hobby you stopped pursuing years ago during this pandemic .
That's it for today, will try to put some extra stitches this weekend as it is IHSW .

Let the People Choose-May Update

Hello Friends,
First Saturday of the month I join Jo for The People's Choice SAL . 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 Fire. Now this is a tricky one- I don't think I have stitched a piece with fire in it. No problem about that, we can interpret the topic of this SAL in our own way. I waited for few people to post about this topic and see what their interpretation is.

Fire is considered holy in Hinduism, religion I follow. Agni, and thus fire, is a symbol used in many Hindu ceremonies that form a rite of passage; births, marriages and funerals.Fire is a source of light and I can't imagine celebrating my favourite festival Diwali without light. Diwali is a festival of lights and we light earthen lamps, candles and these day electric lights to celebrate the festival.I stitched this piece in 2018 :

Free Pattern from Daily Cross Stitch

I have received many hand made Diwali gifts showing Diyas(earthen lamps) over the years.

Gift from Preeti

Gift from Zhraa

Gift from Zhraa

Gift from Tammy

Here are patterns on my wish list showing earthen lamps:

Now,I'm going to check what other have posted for this SAL.

Stitch Every 'Day' in 'May'

Hi dear Friends,
                          Happy May!
How are you ? We are still under lockdown and with the given circumstances , I won't be surprised if it extends till June.Well, I have never had any problem being at home, so the lockdown doesn't bother me much.
However to make most of being home , I thought I would do a personal challenge called "Stitch Every 'Day' in 'May' ". I was going thru my old posts and realised I do this challenge every two years. You can see my post for 2018 and 2016 here.
I know for many of you stitching every day is a way of life , however I tend to get distracted easily by social media and watching online series that's why I took this challenge.The idea is to stitch atleast for 15 mins everyday.
My focus piece will be my oldest WIP-Indian Peacock by Dimensions.
This piece was started on new year day in 2017 and has been neglected since due to priority of gift stitching. With the lockdown, I'm not making any gifts as there is no way to send them.So I thought I would put some stitches in this project. I stitched for 10 days in April on this project and added 1261 stitches.
Before and after pic:

I was finding it difficult to stitch this in the Q snap I had so I'm now stitching this in hand.
The last two times when I did this challenge some of you joined me, join me this year too if this is something you would like to do .
I'm not going to make it a SAL or any compulsion to post on blog. Just use #stitcheverydayinmay if you post pictures on Instagram.I will post an update on the challenge at the end of month.
Are you finding more time for stitching during the lockdown or rather the opposite?