Let the People Choose-July 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 The Designer You Have Stitched the Most. Its good that Jo changed the topic from Most favourite or most popular to this, because I don't have a favourite designer.

Most of my stitching projects are gift , so I try to search designs which suit recipients likes rather than designer. 
Yesterday I sat and made an excel sheet to record how many projects I have stitched of each designer. I have completed 68 projects since 2014 and two designers tie at 5 projects each.
The winners are Durene Jones and Lesley Teare. Both these designers are major contributors to patterns in British cross stitch magazines and I mainly source my projects from there.

Durene Jones patterns, all stitched in 2019

Lesley Teare's patterns I have stitched

I have even received a Lesley Teare pattern stitched in an exchange.

I love stitching cover kits  and most of them don't mention the designer.Another designer who has most simplest patterns is Helen Phillips.

Helen Phillips's patterns I have stitched

Have you stitched patterns from any of these designers? Do you select projects based on designer or theme?
It would be interesting to see how many new to me designers I find once I go blog hopping for this SAL.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL June 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.

For the month of May, I made good progress on my oldest WIP and decided to start a new project on the first day of the month.Here it is ,after 5 days of progress.

Can you guess what it is?
Saturday, 13th June was World Wide Knitting in Public day. If you have been following me for few years, you will know how this day is special to me.Since 2015, when I first found about this event, I have been either organising or participating in the event for the craft group I am part of. This year there was no way knitters were going to meet in public, so the craft group I'm part of decided to meet online. Another online meet up was organised by a Indian yarn manufacturing company. I participated in both and had fun.
I decided to stitch the following pattern to mark the day. I'm not much of knitter so this will be sent to one of my knitter friends when the postal service resumes.

Pattern by Daily Cross Stitch

I have used threads given by my pen pal and my mom, the backing paper is from my pen pal ,so this qualifies for the SAL. Originally my idea was to finish it as an ornament, however I changed my mind last minute and thought of trying something new.
My English speaking friends, what is the proper word for this type of finish?
That's it for the gifts I made.
Now some chit chat..for the first two weeks of the month I was feeling lonely and anxious. There is no improvement in the pandemic situation here and the number of cases are increasing exponentially. The lockdown was relaxed on 8th and it looks like it was a grave mistake to do so. We (Husband and I) haven't stepped out of the house in months and that's the only way I see to keep us safe.
What makes me anxious is not knowing when things will improve? When will I be able to travel? When will I be able to see my parents?
There is a shortage of supplies here and that causes some irritation. I'm not able to pursue my hobby of snail mailing - I miss writing and receiving letters.
The pandemic has given birth to hundreds of apps to connect with people, but somehow I'm starting to feel friendships made over social media are not real. I have this feeling that one day if I stop blogging or posting on Facebook or Instagram , no one will notice. Most of the people care only about likes and followers.
I have been blogging for 5 years now, and during this time few people I thought I made connection with stopped blogging. I miss them and wonder do they miss me/us? It feels that the person doesn't care about the time and efforts put by the other person in the relationship. While I respect the reasons due to which an individual stops using any social media, these experiences have made me hesistant to start a new relationship.
What are your views ? Do you get attached to people over social media? Is it just about comments and likes for you?May be you are a lucky person who made genuine friends thru social media .

Anyways,I'm feeling better now and want to focus on the positives .
I hope I haven't bored with you my rant.
Take care and stay safe.

Let the People Choose-June 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 Dragonflies.Now, who doesn't love dragonflies...such  pretty colorful creatures.
I have stitched a dragonfly only once for a biscornu swap.

The pattern is a freebie from Stitch Happy blog. She has more dragonfly patterns which can be found under the label.
I don't think I have any dragonfly patterns in my stash, however I have saved this free pattern  a few years back.

Its a freebie which can be found here .
That's it from my side for this topic, now to check what others have posted for this SAL.

How did I do for "Stitch every 'Day' in 'May' "

Hello Friends,
May month has come to an end, I hope 'Maynia' in the cross stitch world has settled down. I have enjoyed looking at the various versions of Maynia . I hope you enjoyed whatever version you followed, after all its about enjoyment right?
My personal goal was to Stitch every 'Day' in 'May'. I'm very happy to report that I was able to stitch/craft on 29 days out of 31 days of the month. I'm realising that setting this personal goal helps me come out of my comfort zone(read laziness) .
My main focus was to make some progress on my oldest WIP, Indian Peacock by Dimensions.I added 3711 stitches, full and half, to the project and the progress is clearly visible.

Before and After

I started and finished a small project for our anniversary which I showed in my last post.

I also knitted these bookmarks from left over yarn , such a quick project.

A new craft learnt and key ring made.

I think I will try to stitch every day in June as well as the lock down has extended my part of the country. My city is the worst hit in the world and numbers are rising by thousands every day. Its a scary situation, thank God for our crafts to keep us sane.
Hope you are safe and staying home wherever you are.

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?