Gifted Gorgeousness SAL June update

Hello Friends,

Thank you for your kind comments on my last post.

It's that time of the month when we show what gifts we have been working on or gifts received.
Gifted Gorgeousness is Jo's baby and the idea is to show what we are stitching as gifts . Also to show our appreciation for the gifts (charts,fabric,floss etc.) we have received

I will start with my focus piece for this month which will be a gift for my bestie.

Candamar design called "Most beautiful thing"

Second is a gift for my aunt . The fabric was given to me by a generous lady Mrs. G whom I met in London thru facebook.

Progress on September Flower. 

Pattern Source EMS FOTM series

Lastly , as I have now decided to gift the HoM Mystery SAL piece to one of my college friends, I will show it once more.

I received this beautiful crochet bookmark from ZoZo ,one of the members of my craft group. She is such a talented crocheter and doesn't need patterns to make stuff. One glance at finished piece and she can stitch it.

I have been making other crafty things ,not cross stitch related, which I will show in my next post.

18th June is World Wide Knit in Public day and I'm looking forward to meeting my friends and new people for the event.

I know some of you knit too. Are you participating in the KIP in your area?If you need information about locations of the event,visit the website http://www.wwkipday.com/


That's the news from my corner of the world.I'm off to see what beauties you have been making.

Happy Dance!!!

Hello Friends,

Come and happy dance with me! I have finished stitching the House of Margaret Mystery SAL piece. I put the last stitch on this piece last night and I’m elated that my goal to ‘Stitch every day in May’ brought me this success.

I’m happy with the way the design turned out. It was my first time participating in a mystery SAL and I was skeptical what theme this pattern would follow. Glad that it’s a neutral theme and I even have somebody in mind who I can gift this to. 

                                                                 Details: 

Started on : 8-Apr-2016

Finished on: 30-May-2016

Actual number of stitch days: 25

Stitched on:16 count white Aida

Floss used :Anchor, DMC

Designer: Viktoria Horvath

Pattern source: House of Margaret

Number of colors: 7

Stitch count: 167H*164W

Type of stitches: Full cross stitch,  fractionals,back stitch

Progress Pics

The pattern was easy to follow and the designer Viktoria did a good job considering she is quite new at designing. As there were very few colors in the design, not much counting was required. It’s my first pattern where I worked from a digital copy and saved a few trees…lol.

However I think the designer could have done better with instructions. You see, the designer didn’t specify the fractional stitches in the pattern key, the count size was given as 164*167, not clear which one of this is width/height. The top of the pattern started from row 9 and/ or 20 which resulted my piece to be a bit off centered. The lettering and color selection for back stitch could have been better. I’m writing this as a review/feedback for the designer and this is no way a criticism.

I’m thinking of getting the piece framed with a black matt .What do you think?

Now on to future crafting plans- Continuing on with the goal of stitching every day I will be joining stitchers on Instagram for #TheStitchingHourSummer2016. It will be easier for me achieve this in the month of June as we will have reduced working hours in the month.

I’m working on organizing World Wide Knit in Public day in Kuwait on 18^th June. Last year, Kuwait participated first time in this event and I met wonderful people whom I now call my friends. This time organizing it in day time is a bit difficult as Ramadan starts on 6^th June and all the cafes etc. are closed during this month of fasting. Wish me luck ….

I know people in the UK and USA are enjoying the sunshine and venturing out. However, summer here means sitting at home as temperature reach 50+°C (122+°F) and expatriates leave the country to visit their friends and family in home countries. Things are slow and there are hardly any activities. Not that I’m complaining about sitting at home, I love being a hermit. I will miss my craft meet ups and the fun we have as a group. Saturday will be our last meet up before the vacation starts.

So keep those beautiful pictures of gardens and outdoors coming and I will enjoy them while stitching sitting on my sofa.

Let me end my post with a monthly stitch pie which looks so cheery …

IHSW May Part 2 report

Hello friends,

Hope you all are enjoying Sunday in your corner of the world.

I had a great weekend – we went grocery shopping, had family over for dinner and I cooked so many new recipes. I know its Hermit weekend and I was supposed to stitch as much as I can. However, I love cooking and hosting guests so doesn’t feel bad if cooking cuts my stitching time once in a while ..lol

I stitched my House of Margaret Mystery SAL piece during IHSW. We are on week 7 and the last part will be released next Friday. In my introduction post to this project, I wrongly mentioned that the SAL will last 17 weeks.

Here is a before pic

Here is an after pic.

As you can see, the SAL is not a mystery anymore..haha. We see Alex, Marty, Melman (from the movie Madagascar) in the picture above. However I’m still guessing who the grey animal is, at first I thought it’s an elephant, because of the big ears in the pattern. DH says it’s a donkey. I don’t remember a popular elephant or a donkey from the movie. So, it looks like it’s going to be Gloria with long ears.

I’m hoping to finish this project next Friday when the last part is released. A happy dance is long overdue.

  

I will leave you with a picture of Black bean quesadillas I made for lunch yesterday. They turned out delicious. If you are interested the recipe, it is from http://thekitchensinkblog.com/.

Instead of using canned beans and store bought chipotle sauce, I cooked the beans myself and made chipotle sauce with Indian chilly.

Stitch every 'Day' in 'May'

Hello Friends,

The title of my post is what my target for the month is. You see I was quite surprised to see  that I haven't been stitching much this year, when I made the Pies for my last post.
I know some of you stitch everyday and that's inspirational. I sat thinking why can't I do that: I have a normal 10 hr job (no overtime), don't have to cook for a big family or neither do I have pets who need much care (I have budgies ,but they hardly take any time). So I realized I'm being a lazy bum ...
I have set up a target to stitch every day this month even if it's a single length of thread. It's been a success so far, Thursday being an exception.

Enough of my rant about my time organization .So here is my check-in for Jo's Gifted Gorgeousness SAL, IHSW hosted by Joysze and Friday Frolicking.
I have been working on EMS Flower of the month series which will be a gift for my aunt. I have completed July and August Flowers . Except the back stitching and some stitches with white. I prefer to stitch white at the end to keep the stitches clean.

Yesterday morning was my craft meetup and it was so good to see my friends after 2 months. We had a wonderful time discussing crafts, current affairs and stash addictions.
I got wonderful gifts from Tammy, which she bought all the way from Jerusalem.

I tried my hands at sewing again to make a laptop sleeve. It's not pretty or neat however it sure is very useful with the season of dust soon approaching.

That's it my friends for today. I will be stitching the EMS piece today and then pick my HOM Mystery SAL piece tomorrow for rotation.

Progress update and some goodies

Hello dearies,

Can you believe that April has come to end ? That means we are past 1/3 rd of this year.

I feel sad because this year I haven't been able to stitch as much as I would like to. Infact 54% of the time I haven't stitched at all.That's what my monthly and yearly pies tell .

Anyways, I shouldn't be too hard on myself,after all cross stitching is a hobby and we are supposed to enjoy it.

Let's do a quick monthly round up. A new start and some progress on a WIP.

HoM Mystery SAL
Started on 8th April 2016

Khristine, you wanted to know how did my planned rotation go. I would say not bad. I devoted equal time to the two projects. The reason I didn't get much progress on EMS piece is that July flower is full of confetti.18 colors for 34*34 motif..that's too much.

EMS FOTM
April Progress

However I'm happy with my progress on HoM Mystery SAL piece,the pattern has chunks of single color stitches and doesn't need much counting.I'm one week behind the SAL as I was out of town last weekend.I'm thinking that I will stitch this piece during the week days as its easy to work on with tired mind.
I was going through my old posts and realised that I never showed you the needlework pieces I got from my mom in February.
So here they are:

Crochet piece made by mom

Knitted tea cozy made by mom

Knitted doll made by mom

Crochet piece by my maternal grandmother

I feel so lucky to be able to display these heirlooms in my house now. I know , these may be not the best of heirlooms you have seen. However all these are more than 35 years old, used roughly in environment full of dust. My mom and grandmother didn't have access to any books and patterns in those days and these are things they must have made by looking at a similar piece.

Now I would like to show you the best tool for cross stitching I have acquired till date..

This is the stand/frame I use for holding my Q snaps and hoop. Its sturdy ,flexible ,easy to carry and dismantle.
One day while I was stitching using my Q snaps and was finding it difficult to hold it in my hands, I showed DH some of the frames which stitchers use. I asked him can we get one made as we have some wood work going in our house in India. He said let me look into it.
One hour later he comes home with these 2 holders and fixes it on a chair and shows me how it can hold my Qsnaps. Easy peasy and cheap (around $7). He told that these were being sold as mobile holders in one of the super markets.
Oh I love it !The stand lets me use both my hands for stitching and my stitches are neater too.

I may not have much stitching to show this month but I'm sure you will like all the other goodies in this post.

IHSW April Update

It’s time to show you what I stitched during  IHSW .

For those of who don't know about IHSW, it’s being hosted 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."

I started a new project last Friday(8^th April) : House of Margaret Mystery SAL. It’s a SAL where the designer will be releasing small portions of pattern in 17 weeks and the sign-up is free.

I stitched the second part which was released on 15^th during the weekend. Here is my progress:

  

 I will pick up my Flower of the Month project today as all that is left to stitch now in HoM Mystery SAL piece is some white. I usually stitch the white at the end of project to keep it clean.

I was not able to be a true hermitter or hibernator this week. Had to step out of the house for a dentist appointment. I figured I had too much wisdom to survive in this world, so decided to get my wisdom tooth out.

However, I’m happy that I was able to stitch on the way to and back from the Dentist in the car. As the HoM design has no confetti, it was very easy to stitch in the car with absolutely no counting required.

As I stitched this piece on Friday, it also counts for Friday Frolicing .

I hope all you hermitters are having a productive IHSW. I will be visiting your blogs soon to check on you..lol

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL April update

Hello Friends,
Thank you for your lovely comments on my last post. Easter Blog hop hosted by Jo, was a great success. I got to see some beautiful stitched pieces and meet new bloggers.
I have been thinking of trying rotation for my cross stitch projects for quite some time now. Not that I have too many WIPs.. well its more than one , which is quite a lot for me..lol . So I pulled out my old WIP-Flower of the Month series by Ellen Maurer-Stroh and decided to stitch it for April Showers Bring May Flowers SAL for  Stitch Maynia group on FB.This is where I left it when I last stitched it on 4th Dec 2015.

Flower of the Month series by Ellen Maurer-Stroh

I stitched the July flower and here is how it looks now after 5 days of love.

July flower- Larkspur

When I started this piece, I wasn't sure who will be the recipient of this beauty. No more such doubts, as my aunt (maternal uncle's wife) claimed it and it will now be their 25th wedding anniversary gift.

Before picking EMS piece, I was stitching a gift for my bestie which now looks like this. 

Candamar Designs kit called "Most Beautiful Things Picture"

Its a Candamar Designs kit with fabric swapped with 25ct vinatge lugana. My friend is on vacation (hence no access to internet) and I can safely post the picture this time :)

Yesterday was a horrible day at work (HR issues), made worse by a colleague's behavior. I lost my cool and wanted to break some things or yell...grrr

Then I decided I can't let people spoil my weekend and decided to go and pick mail which a lady in my craft group carried for me from UK.

I almost cried when I opened these packets as this was all I needed after such a bad day.. Some love from my stitchy friends.

Look what I got 

Jo sent me these "delicate" blackwork charts, delicate being the word DH said after he saw them and smiled when he saw the mouse card. He calls me mouse ..ha ha. Jo kindly remembered that I wanted to try blackwork  from my blog post about crafting goals.

Kerry was giving away some magazine charts for free on her blog and I picked Oriental theme charts from that bundle.

Thank you Kerry and Jo, for cheering me up.

I have started a new project which I will show in my next post as I will be stitching that as part of IHSW this month.

Also, I have been meaning to show you  a wonderful DIY stand DH fixed to hold my hoops and q-snaps. I'm loving how I can stitch using two hands and my stitches are neater. I need to take good pics of the stand and may be show you in my next post.

I have also tried few new recipes and a cooking related post is pending too.

Let's see when I get time for these ..

I better say goodbye now, my coffee is getting cold and I have some things (read stitching) to do.